Syaoran's Angels
by Star Dragon Fire
Summary: Loosely based on Charlie's Angels. Sakura, Tomoyo and Meiling are spies, bodyguards, detectives. Now the three Angels have to stop Spinnel Corporation from robbing the world of precious artefacts. Please R & R. COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

This story is loosely based on Charlie's Angels but it has the CCS characters in it. Basically Meiling, Tomoyo and Sakura are Syaoran's Angels, a trio of spies/bodyguards/detective, since this is a CCS, there may be hints of magic or the supernatural.

I'm not sure if it is going to be a S/S or E/T fic yet, so don't ask! But please R/R, this is a bit short but the chapters will become longer!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything only the storyline and the characters of my invention.

**Prologue**

"Okay, Sakura. Wait a sec," a lavender-haired beauty muttered into the headphone she wore.

She typed hurriedly into her computer and smirked as a blizzard of numbers and words flashed across the screen.

"Bingo," she tapped the enter button, "The security system is down. I repeat it is down."

Sakura Kinomoto stared one more time into her compact mirror and smiled seeing a totally unrecognisable girl. Her auburn hair was now hidden by a blonde wig and her emerald eyes were covered by a pair of blue contact lenses. She snapped her mirror shut and smiled brightly as she walked past a security guard.

Men she thought disdainfully as the man's eyes went immediately to her chest.

"What are you doing here little lady?" he asked grabbing her arm.

Sakura whirled around and flashed him her most cheerful, clueless smile.

"Hi! I'm like Mr. Smith's secretary. And I'm like so like late," she saw suspicion flash in the guard's eyes and immediately acted.

"Oh no!" she wailed, "Is that dirt on my shoe?"

She knelt down allowing the guard a good look down the neckline of her shirt. She smirked as the guard's breathing quickened.

"Can I go now?" she asked standing up as she batted her eyes at him.

"Yeah... so are you busy tonight."

"Tonight... umm... no. Do you want to like go out for a drink afterwards?"

The guard smiled.

"Yeah."

"I'll come back later," Sakura smiled at him, "It was nice meeting you..."

She looked at his tag.

"Steven."

The guard opened the door and Sakura smiled up at him.

"Thanks."

She walked into the building careful to swing her hip seductively as she walked.

_'Flirt,'_ she could hear Tomoyo through the hidden hearing device in her ear.

"It got me in didn't it?"

_'Yeah it did,'_ Tomoyo laughed. She turned serious again, _'Okay. You know the plan? Grab the disk and get the hell out. Meiling will act as backup outside. Got it?'_

"Clear as crystal," Sakura smiled at one of the building's employees walked past, "Give me twenty minutes."

* * *

Meiling pulled up in front of the Spinnel Corporation building and waited impatiently.

"Come on, Sakura. Come on."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"We are planning to drill for oil in Australia, Japan and Antarctica," the dashing businessmen smiled at the assembly acquired, "Before I go into deeper detail is there anything questions?"

"How are we going to get permission to drill in those places? We all know even Antarctica is protected by thousands of laws."

"Easy," the businessmen smirked, "In my hand here is a special disk. This disk contains certain information that certain powerful government officials would rather keep quiet about. Any other questions?"

"So we're blackmailing them?" a man asked.

"Exactly."

The whole assembly sniggered as the man put the disk down.

"Okay continuing on. I will now pass around documents outlining..."

Sakura had heard enough. That was the disk she needed to retrieve. But how? She needed a distraction...

"Tomoyo. Can you trigger the fire alarm?"

_'What!'_

"You heard me."

_'Fine... wait a minute.'_

"BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGG!!" everybody in the room jumped as the fire alarm burst into life.

Outside the emergency sprinklers were activated. Water gushed down from the pipes causing chaos.

"What the?" everybody jumped up, looking around in confusion.

"Don't worry," the key businessmen began, "It's only..."

Sakura decided to add to the confusion.

"It's a fire! GET OUT! GET OUT!" she screamed jumping up.

Instant chaos. Everybody panicked and ran out of the room leaving Sakura and the key businessmen.

"What the hell? Why did you do that for bitch?" he growled.

"This," Sakura reached into her purse and grabbed something from it.

She ripped the cap off and fired. The man screamed in pain as the most powerful capsicum money could buy find flew into his eyes. He fell to the ground clutching his eyes.

"YOU BITCH!"

"That's got to sting," she smirked, "HIYA!"

She leapt into the air and put all her strength into one single kick. The man's head snapped back as her foot connected with his chin. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"I'll take this," Sakura smirked picking up the disk.

With one final check of the room, she left sprinting down the hall.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"You made it," Meiling told her friend and colleague.

"Sorry. It took a while to get out of the building. There were people panicking everywhere," Sakura ripped off her soaked wig, "I swear if it was a real fire they would have all been dead."

"Don't got the seat wet," Meiling said scowling at her friend's wet clothes, "Too late for that. Did you get it?"

"Of course!" Sakura held up the disk, "What do we do with it?"

"We give it back to Tomoyo."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo sighed seeing the disk.

"You know you could have kept it dry."

"Sorry," Sakura shot back, "Next time I'll bring a zip-lock bag."

Tomoyo briskly wiped the disk clean with her handkerchief and shoved the thing into her computer.

"Well, surprise, surprise. It's encrypted."

"Can you decrypt it?" Meiling asked.

"Gonna take a while," Tomoyo began typing away, "You better report back."

"Hello, Angels," a male voice came through the voice box placed on top of the desk.

"Hello, Syaoran!" Meiling and Sakura chorused.

"So Angels how did you go?" Syaoran cut straight to the point.

Sakura and Meiling grinned at each other.

"We got it!"

"No problems?"

"Nope but the disk is encrypted."

"At least you got the disk," there a pause, "My sources tell me there is more to that disk than meets the eye."

"Tomoyo is decrypting it as we speak," Meiling said immediately getting down to business, "We'll figure it out."

"Lets hope so, Angels."


	2. Russian Rampage

Thanks to everybody who reviewed this story, glad you liked it! Sorry about the long wait but here it is at long last... the next instalment!!

Disclaimer: nothing belongs to me aside from the storyline and characters of my own making.

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 1: Russian Rampage**

_Location: Moscow, Russia_

Tomoyo smiled flirtatiously to the man sitting across from her in the bar and casually sipped her drink without taking her eyes off him. The man smiled back pleased to see a good-looking twenty-year-old woman flirting with him.

Whilst all this was going on, Tomoyo was comparing the man to the mental picture she had in her head.

He's the one she thought.

Casually she looked around the Russian bar and spotted Sakura dancing on stage surrounded by a dozen cheering man.

Sakura winked saucily at them and twirled gracefully around revealing a little too much thigh for Tomoyo's liking but her friend and partner was doing a fine job as a distraction.

Sakura winked back at Tomoyo before bending down and grabbing one of her admirer's necktie causing more howls of approval.

"Would you like a drink?" the man she had been looking at sauntered over and gave her a lazy grin.

Tomoyo replied in Russian.

"Of course," she grinned up at him blasting him with one of her million watt grins.

"So what's your name?" he asked seating down beside her 'accidentally' placing his hand over hers.

"Nikia Roma," Tomoyo grinned giving him a fake name, "What's your name?"

"Derrick," he gestured for one of the waiter's to come.  
Fake name Tomoyo thought knowing full well the man's name was Marcus Ruflac.

"What would you like to drink?" 'Derrick' asked, "It's on me."

"Vodka," Tomoyo smiled back at him keeping up her flirting façade, "I like drinking something strong when I'm with a _man_."

Tomoyo inwardly sniggered as the man's face brightened. He quickly ordered two vodkas whilst still flirting with Tomoyo.

When the drinks came, Tomoyo sipped her glass slowly barely letting any of it actually going down her throat. A small trick she had learnt whilst Derrick/Marcus swigged his down in five seconds flat and ordered a whole bottle.

Tomoyo continued chatting to him carefully giving him more than friendly glances and even made herself touch his hand a few times. He was so drunk that he didn't even notice that she hadn't drank much of her vodka.

"So, what do you do?" she asked the drunk man.

"I'm a mobster," the man boasted.

Jackpot!

Syaoran had sent his three angels to Russia, their mission: to rescue one of his captured informants who was currently being held by Russian gang leaders. Syaoran had told them the identity of one the leaders and told the girls to use him to gain access to the informant and free him. The informant apparently had important information about the disk Sakura had stolen from Spinnel Corporation. Tomoyo shoved those thoughts to the back of her head and proceeded with her plan.

"I don't believe you," Tomoyo smiled at her with a patronising smile.

"I am!" the man insisted.

"Then show me," the Angel challenged.

Five minutes later, Tomoyo was sitting in the drunken man's limo and was taken to an unknown destination.

Inside the bar, Sakura gave her adoring crowd one last smile and flounced off the stage. Once she was backstage, she quickly changed into some sensible clothes and departed chasing after her friend.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Who goes there?" a tall, muscular man cried hefting his semi-automatic weapon.

"Chill, she's with me," Marcus told the guard pushing his weapon away.

Tomoyo followed Marcus into the gangleader's headquarters, which was seemingly an abandoned warehouse along some strange river she had never seen before but inside the whole building had been refurnished and decorated boasting a pool table and a bar to one side.

Tomoyo hoped that the drunken leader couldn't hear the soft beeping of the tracking device she had in her pocket. Sakura and Meiling were probably already tracking her down right now.

"Wow!" Tomoyo gushed, "This is wicked!"

She smiled suggestively at Marcus.

"Do you have a bedroom?"

Marcus grinned like the fool he was and grabbed her arm dragging her across the main foyer to a wooden door.

He kicked the door open to reveal a bedroom as expensive looking as the rest of headquarters. Grinning he dragged her inside and immediately banged the door close behind him and nuzzled against Tomoyo's neck. Tomoyo pretended to giggle and swatted at his hand playfully.

"Down boy," she murmured into his ears.

In one swift moment, Tomoyo punched the man in the face causing a scream of pain and rage. She kicked him in the chest and sent him flying across the room he hit the ground heavily and rolled over.

Tomoyo waited with bated breath for a second and hoped that nobody had heard the short struggled.

Silence.

Swiftly Tomoyo ran to the man and checked his pulse. He wasn't dead but he was knocked out cold.

Tomoyo sniggered wildly and opened the door and walked out.

Time for Operation Rescue.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_'Can you find her?' _Sakura's voice came out loud and clear over the microphone.

Meiling glanced down at her scanner, which showed where Tomoyo was. She mentally calculated where she was and nodded with satisfaction.

She was just a block away.

"Yeah, I'm close," Meiling replied.

She revved up her motorbike and screeched down the street when she neared she killed the speed and stopped in front of the warehouse where Tomoyo was.

"I'm in position."

_'I'm coming.'_

Meiling smiled and waited for some serious butt kicking. Inside she was worried, Tomoyo was deep inside the lion's den so to speak and she wasn't exactly the best fighter out of the three.

Meiling took a deep breath. Tomoyo was smart. She could pull this off. She had to.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

With one swift kick, Tomoyo dispatched another guard silently. Nimbly she leapt over the guard's body and looked curiously at the door in front of her. This one unlike the others was old and falling apart but she wasn't fooled. This one was also heavily locked. There was also a small window fixed into the wood. She peered inside and saw that the room was unlit but she thought she could see someone in there.

It was now or never.

She knelt down and making sure nobody was around inspected the look. Grinning impishly, her grey eyes dancing with glee, Tomoyo reached into her coat pocket and retrieved a leather pouch. She opened it and selected two long strands of oddly shaped wire.

"Easy does it," she murmured.

She gently inserted one of the wires into the padlock and twisted it gently. Nothing. She inserted the other wire in and gently twisted that.

"Bingo," she smiled triumphantly as with a soft click, the lock sprung open. Tomoyo yanked the lock off and dropped it onto the carpeted floor.

Tomoyo pushed the door gently and thankfully it was well oiled so there were no loud squeaks. She didn't want to draw any of the guard's attention now.

The door swung open throwing light into the unlit room. In the middle of room was an old wooden chair. Bound to that chair by rope, chains and god knows what was a badly beaten man. He looked up and began yelling through his gag.

"Shhhh..." Tomoyo told him soothingly, "I work for Syaoran."

The man calmed down as Tomoyo quickly walked over to him and undid his gag.

"I'm Andrew," the man told her quietly as she got to work hacking the ropes binding him with a switchblade she kept with her at all times, "I have information for him."

"Just be quiet and keep calm. I'll get you out of here and then you can tell him yourself," Tomoyo yanked the rope away and glared at the chains as if the force of her will would have caused the chains to shatter.

"This is a problem," she admitted.

Andrew glanced down at his leg, which was also bound by chains.

"There is a lock between my ankles," he told her, "Trying undoing that."

"Thanks," Tomoyo swiftly knelt down and got out her lock-picking kit.

Ruthlessly she attacked the lock and soon Andrew was shakily getting to his feet and painfully stretching his limbs. He winced as he felt the bruises on his face.

"I bet you I don't look so good," he told her smiling ruefully.

Tomoyo grinned up at him.

"If anybody went through what you went through I don't think they'll look good either," Tomoyo grabbed the man's hand, "Let's go."

Swiftly they exited the room and made it to the foyer. That's when they hit an obstacle. An obstacle in the shape of a very drunken and angry man with a very badly broken nose.

"Get her," Marcus growled to his guards.

"Damn," Tomoyo said mildly.

She shoved Andrew to the ground and prepared to do battle as the first guard reached her with a dangerous looking knife in his hands.

"Awww, there's no need to get _cut _with me," Tomoyo smirked.

The guard let out a bellow like a charging bull and slashed at her. Tomoyo was already in motion. She ducked the guard's swing and kicked his legs out from under him. The guard's grip on his knife loosened and it flew up into the air. The man's eyes widened as gravity grabbed the blade and yanked it down point first. It would have impaled him in the gut if Tomoyo hadn't snagged it from midair.

"I saved you," Tomoyo told the man with a grin, "You owe me."

She punched her in the face and leapt up to face her next attacker. This time it was a woman who was also carrying a knife.

The woman attempted to stab her in the stomach but Tomoyo parried her blade with her own and deflected the attack away. The Japanese Angel brought the blade over her head and tried to slice the guard's head open but the woman brought her knife up and blocked the blow.

"CLANG!" sparks flew from the meeting of the two knifes as Tomoyo kicked the woman in the stomach.

The woman stumbled backwards as Tomoyo used the knocked-out man as a springboard to leap up into the air and land a series of kicks on the woman shoulders and chest before landing on the ground and doing a quick spin kick catching the woman in the chin. The woman stumbled backwards and fell over, knocked out cold.

"You idiots!" Marcus roared, "Shoot her!"

Tomoyo's eyes widened as remaining three guards brought their guns up.

"ANDREW!" she shouted, "GET BEHIND THE BAR!"

Andrew raced to the relative safety of the bar as Tomoyo sprinted at him.

The guards pulled the triggers.

"KISSSSHHHHH!!" glass shattered as bullets flew through the air like angry steel hornets.

The air was filled with the sounds of gunshot as bullets shredded the carpet, the walls, the pool table and the bar.

Splinters of wood flew into the air as glass shattered. Tomoyo and Andrew ducked behind the bar as bullets destroyed everything around them.

"Why do I have the feeling this wasn't part of your plan?" Andrew asked.

Tomoyo shrugged.

"Lucky guess?"

Their conversation was drowned out by the sound of gunshots.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling jerked up as she heard something familiar. It wasn't very loud but it was there.

"Gunshots," she murmured.

She cursed and spoke into her microphone.

"Sakura! Tomoyo's in trouble! I'm going in!"

_'I'll be there in a few minutes. I got lost,'_ Sakura said ruefully.

Meiling sniggered.

"Remind me to tell you never get lost in a forest."

'Will do. Now go!'

Meiling hopped onto her motorbike and grinned as the motor roared into life.

"Hang on Tomoyo. The cavalry is coming!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"How many bullets have they got?" Andrew mused.

"A lot by the sounds of things," Tomoyo replied, "They're probably taking turns in reloading."

Andrew sighed.

"I hate it when they work together."

"Me too."

Tomoyo winced as more bullets thudded into the bottles and glasses above them raining splinters of glass over them.

"Well, this is fun," she growled.

"VRRRRROOOOOOMMMMM!!"

"What the?" Tomoyo took the risk of peering over the bar table.

The door to the warehouse burst open as something charge in. A motorbike?!

Marcus whirled around in time to see a fist smack in his already broken nose. He collapsed without a sound. The leather clad woman on the bike took her feet off the machine and gripping the handlebars tightly whipped both of her legs to the side kicking one of the guards in the back before he had time to react.

"Meiling!" Tomoyo jumped up and jumped back in time to avoid a spray of bullets.

The Chinese Angel directed her bike at one of the other guards and leapt off. The guard managed to jump back as the bike raced past and slammed into the wall. It toppled over but not before creating a giant hole in the plasterboards.

Meiling ripped off her helmet and hurled it at the other guard before moving into action. The girl was amazing.

In two seconds flat, she made it across the room and performing a small backflip she kicked the guard in the chin and sent him sprawling. She back flipped her way to the remaining guard and landed two hefty kicks to his chest sending him flying into the pool table. Meiling performed one last flip and landed onto her feet. She moved into a fighter's stance but all the guards were taken down.

"The cavalry's arrived and kicking butt!" Meiling crowed.

"You made it," Tomoyo said standing up as Andrew peered cautiously over the bar, "Where's Sakura?"

"She got lost."

"No, she got lost but she's now found," Sakura eased her motorbike beside Meiling and hopped off, "Nice job. I was watching."

"And you didn't help?" Meiling asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"I know how much you enjoy your butt-kicking sessions and seeing as how I've already done a mission I thought it was fair," Sakura shrugged.

As they talked one of the guards began stirring but one good punch by Sakura put him back into dreamland.

"I think this mission was a success. Everybody agree?"

"Yes!" Andrew nodded.

"You're the informant?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's go."

After seeing Andrew safely home and receiving a phone call from Syaoran saying that Andrew will be looked after and protected, the girls headed off back to their headquarters.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Making themselves comfortable on the sofa facing the desk, they waited. The speaker box sitting on the desk flickered to live.

"Good evening Angels," Syaoran's warm voice came through the speaker box.

None of the girls had actually seen Syaoran but to the best of their knowledge Syaoran was a rich businessman wanting to help fellow humans in need. He had recruited the young computer genius, Tomoyo from Japan, the kung-fu/marital artist expert, Meiling from China and from right here in America, a talented gymnast and actress, Sakura. Together the trio made up Angel Investigations. Basically they travel around the globe (often under aliases) trying to solve crimes, protect the innocent and generally kick evil people's butt, according to Meiling.

"Good evening Syaoran!" the girls chorused.

"Good job in rescuing Andrew. Right now he's in a safe house being looked after. I can ensure you he's very happy right now. He's already told me what he knows about the encrypted disk..."

Tomoyo sighed.

"I'm sure you can decrypt it soon," Syaoran told her with a hint of amusement in his voice, "But Andrew says that he believes that the disk contains vital information leading to a certain museum in France. In Paris to be precise. If Tomoyo can't decrypt it soon, I'm going to send all of you to Paris to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity."

The girls nodded forgetting the fact that Syaoran couldn't see them.

"Sure thing, Syaoran," Sakura replied.

"Good luck with the disk Tomoyo."

"Thanks."

"Goodbye Angels."

"Goodbye Syaoran!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Marcus gingerly touched his heavily bandaged nose and cursed the bloody girls that had done to this him. He looked up and stared at his guest who was looking at him coolly with a small smile of amusement on his face.

"I dug around and I found what each of these girls look like," Marcus threw a picture onto the table between them, "I want you to kill them."

The man sitting across from him took the picture and studied his new quarry.

"Very well. What is the price?" the man asked in a very refined voice.

He was every inch the gentleman but his façade hid a very calculating and dangerous assassin renowned for his ability to hunt down anybody anywhere.

"Five mi."

"Fair enough," the man slipped the photo into his pocket, "Nice doing business with you Mr. Ruflac."

"Nice doing business with you..." Marcus gave him a charming smile.

He uttered the assassin's name.

"Eriol Hiragizawa."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

CLIFFHANGER!!  
I will refuse to add another instalment until I get 5 or more reviews! So click that button/word and review!

**Next chapter**

As Tomoyo work frantically to decrypt the disk, the consequences of the girl's raid on Spinnel Corporation are revealed as a new assassin is hired (that makes 2...). Expect a familiar face and new dangers in..._Never mess with Spinnel_

A/Note: I have slight problems in deciding the plot of this story. So if you like you can review me saying which one is better:

a) The girls have to stop the company's attempt at mining uranium and selling them to terrorists.

Or

b) The girls have to stop the company's attempt as stealing precious ancient artefacts from all over the world.

Please help me!


	3. Never mess with Spinnel

Thanks to everybody who reviewed! I am eternally grateful! Keep them coming!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters aside from the ones of my own creation.

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 2: Never mess with Spinnel**

_Location: Los Angeles a.k.a. City of Angels, America_

Long elegant fingers flew across the many keys typing away madly. The sound of keys being punched at regular intervals filled the whole air accompanied by growls of frustration and whispered curses.

"For god's sake!" Tomoyo screamed at the computer, "WORK!"

"Hmmm... last time I checked the computer doesn't respond to threats otherwise I would have that thing tap-dancing across the room," Meiling told her slightly amused.

Tomoyo gave her glare that would have caused rock to burst into flames and turned back to her computer.

"I don't understand why. Why can't I decrypt it?" Tomoyo sighed, "Whoever encrypted it must have been an expert."

"I gathered that from your earlier screaming," Meiling reminded her.

Tomoyo barely resisted the urge to smash the computer screen in and turned to Meiling instead.

"Want to go out to lunch?" she asked her friend and partner.

"I don't know..."

"My treat."

"Sure."

Tomoyo rolled her eyes.

"Where's Sakura?"

"Dunno, I think she's down at the gym," Meiling pulled her mobile phone out, "Want me to call her?"

"Yeah, may as well drag her along."

Meiling punched in a few buttons and waited somewhat impatiently.

"Hey, Sakura. Me and Tomoyo..."

"Tomoyo and I," her friend corrected her even without noticing it.

"Tomoyo and I," Meiling rolled her eyes, "want to go out to lunch. Want to come?"

"Where?" Meiling look at Tomoyo.

"Hmmm... Mandy's?"

"Mandy's. Meet us at the front door in around," Meiling glanced at her wristwatch, "Twenty minutes.

There was a short pause as Sakura talked to Meiling.

"No. No. No. Maybe..." Meiling blushed, "No Sakura. I'm not going there to check out that cute waiter I saw last time. Yes. Fine. See you in a while."

Meiling shook her head as she turned off her phone.

"Kids..." Meiling muttered from her vantage point of being six months older.

Tomoyo hid a knowing smile as she went off to grab her jacket.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

High above the urban sprawl that was America, aboard a plane relaxing in a first-class sit was the world's most dangerous assassin.

And he was on a new mission.

Eriol Hiragizawa nodded to the air steward as he poured brandy into Eriol's wine flute. His attention was focused mainly on the photo he held in his hands.

Three girls smiled up at him. They were all around twenty-years-old he guessed. One was tall, muscular and had the aura of being a dangerous woman to cross, another was gentler and more playful but Eriol got the distinct feeling she was crafty and smart at the same time.

The third...

She was breathtaking. Intelligent soft lavender eyes, long smoky black hair... she was tall and graceful and unlike many of the beautiful women he knew she had intelligence in her eyes.

As a lover she would be a revelation but as a quarry... she would be a dangerous challenge.

If there was one thing Eriol enjoy it was a challenge.

"Watch out girls," he chuckled, "Eriol is on your tails."

Eriol Hiragizawa, world-renowned assassin, leaned back into his chair and pondered what was to come.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Two pairs of amused eyes watched their friend as she attempted to order from the waiter without stuttering or blushing. Meiling looked up and glared at them.

"That wasn't funny," she growled.

Sakura blinked at her smiling innocently.

"What wasn't?" the American Angel asked her voice a bit too sweet.

"Ha. Ha."

Tomoyo shook her head with a knowing smile on her face. She looked around the busy café and saw a well-dressed man walk through the glass doors. The man looked around nervously before a waitress came up to her and asked him what he wanted.

"Tomoyo?" Meiling asked shaking her slightly, "Hello? Earth to Tomoyo?"

The Japanese girl blinked in confusion and turned to her friend.

"Sorry, must have drifted off a bit," she stretched her back and yawned, "I'm still tired after sitting in front of the computer for ten hours straight."

Not for the first time she wished that her fellow Angels could learn how to hack and decrypt but both Sakura and Meiling were hopeless at computers. Beyond knowing how to turn it on, they were clueless. Tomoyo hid a smile thinking back to the last time Meiling had tried to use the computer.

It had taken her a month to get back everything Meiling had erased by accident.

"Either way I'm glad we're going to Paris," Sakura told them, "It would be fun."

Meiling glared at her.

"We'll be there on a mission not to sight-see."

Sakura opened her mouth to retort Meiling as the whole café went silent.

"What the?" Meiling, who had her back to the front door, turned around.

"BANG!"

The nervous looking (but well dressed) man that Tomoyo had spotted by the door earlier had pulled out a gun, hence the silence, and had now pulled the trigger.

And of course the barrel was aimed straight at the three Angels.

Years of training kicked in as Meiling leapt from her chair hit the ground and rolled. Sakura and Tomoyo both leaned back casually as the bullet shot past and shattered a picture frame hanging on the wall.

All three Angels moved into action.

"I'm hungry and I don't like getting shot at before I eat!" Sakura growled.

She leapt up and skilfully kicked her chair up into the air. Grasping it with both hands, she hurled the chair at their attacker.

Their attacker shot at the incoming chair in desperation but the bullets missed it completely. The metal chair smacked into his chest and sent him stumbling backwards.

"Ooooo... sharp," Meiling picked up on the knives from their table and inspected it closely before hurling it at their attacker.

He somehow managed to dodge it as the knife spun through the air and hit the wall.

"Get the gun off him!" Tomoyo yelled.

"Will do!"

The rest of the café was now starting to panic as Sakura leapt up onto their table and leapt off performing a quick serious of flips towards their attacker. In mid-flip, she tucked herself into a ball before straightening out kicking the man heavily in the chest.

The gun flew from his grip as Sakura grabbed it and hurled it back at Tomoyo who caught it and dumped it onto the ground.

The man crashed through the front door thanks to Sakura's kick and picked himself up unsteadily. His eyes widened in shock seeing the three Angels charging towards him, he let out a curse and sprinted down the street.

"After him!" Meiling roared.

Tomoyo yanked a handful of notes from her pocket and jammed it down onto their table.

"Sorry about the damage," she told a stunned waiter as she ran past him and out of the door.

Meiling spotted the man running down the straight as he ploughed his way through the busy street.

"Sorry!" Sakura cried as she pushed a man aside, "Excuse me. Sorry."

Meiling didn't even bother as anybody who got in her way was sent crashing down onto the pavement.

"Watch it!"

"That hurt!"

"Young people these days..."

Curses and protests were hurled at Meiling but she ignored it as Tomoyo followed her.

"You know I forgot how fast Sakura actually is," Meiling muttered to Tomoyo.

Tomoyo nodded spotting Sakura who was about ten metres in front of them. She was closing in on the man who was throwing terrified glances back at the auburn haired Angel.

Meiling and Tomoyo put on extra spurts of speed as they rushed to catch up with their friend.

"GOT YA!" Sakura crowed as she grabbed the man's shoulder and yanked him to her.

Several people turned to stare at the girl as they walked past; by now she was holding the man by the tie and shaking him like a dirty rag.

"Who are you?" Sakura dragged the man close to her and whispered into his ear, "Why did you want to kill us?"

"I can't... they'll... they'll... they'll... kill me!"

Meiling and Tomoyo appeared beside Sakura flanking their partner.

"Listen, I'll kill you if you don't tell us," Meiling cracked her knuckles to emphasis her point.

"Spinnel..." the man began looking around with a terrified look in his eyes, "I'm as good as dead."

From the corner of Tomoyo's eye she caught something gold flying towards them and before anybody could react she grabbed her friends and yanked them down onto the pavement.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura scowled angrily.

The Japanese computer genius merely pointed at the man's neck in silent shock, sticking out from his neck was a golden dart gleaming in the sunlight. The man gave a choked scream and clutched his neck trying to pull the dart out. He collapsed to the ground convulsing madly and looked up at the girls as if pleading for them to help him.

Two seconds ticked past and man gave a last twitch before his body went limp.

"Somebody was watching us," Meiling growled.

The girls looked around.

"There," Tomoyo whispered.

A red car with tinted windows and no numberplate cruised past them as Meiling growled and prepared to race after it.

"Don't!" Sakura gripped Meiling's shoulder feeling the tension there, "They'll just run you over or shoot you with another dart."

"Holy cow!"

"What happened?"

A crowd was gathering around the girls by now. They looked at each other and nodded.

"Call an ambulance!" a man cried.

Meiling, Tomoyo and Sakura drifted into the crowd and lost themselves amongst the milling people.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"It seems Spinnel Corporation is retaliating against your raid on them," Syaoran said worry evident in his voice.

"But how did they find out what we look like?" Meiling demanded, "Sakura was in disguise the whole time."

Everybody fell silent as they pondered over the question. Suddenly Tomoyo realised something that made her stomach churn.

"Oh god, outside. I don't think I checked if there were cameras outside. I only disable the inner ones," she gasped feeling like an idiot for not making sure, "They probably spotted Meiling."

Sakura patted her arm reassuringly.

"Don't worry. It's not your fault."

"No, it's not," Syaoran told the upset Angel, "they would have found out eventually. Our top priority now is to decrypt that disk, Angels watch out, Spinnel Corporation would stop at nothing to get that disk back."

"Will do," Sakura told the speaker box cheerfully.

"Goodbye Angels."

"Goodbye Syaoran!"

Tomoyo stood up suddenly.

"Guess I better get to work," she muttered preparing to walk back to the computer lab.

Sakura grabbed her arm.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over nothing."

Even Meiling joined in.

"Don't worry, we all make mistakes."

Tomoyo nodded and left them.

She sat down at her computer and glared at the screen with renewed energy. She had to decrypt it... now.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Thanks for flying on American Airlines," the stewardess told him cheerfully as he left the plane.

Eriol nodded curtly to her and readjusted his glasses. He studied his new surroundings and liked what he saw, so many clueless people so easy to exploit and manipulate. With a small smirk on his face he looked at the photo one more time.

Now for step one: finding his prey.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo continued typing away madly getting more frustrated each time she failed.

She clicked on the file again and the screen flashed and showed her a giant string of numbers, letters and symbols.

She gritted her teeth and kept trying.

She had to do this! She had to decrypt the disk or who knows what evil will occur. They needed information about their enemies and fast.

"Hang on..." Tomoyo blinked and stared at the undecipherable file, "Wait a minute..."

She quickly copied the file onto the computer's hardisk and ejected the disk. Dropping onto the table, she reached into one of the drawers and withdrew another disk. She jammed it into the drive and ran the program, which she had specially created for just this purpose.

"I'm a idiot," she smiled to herself as she quickly typed in something.

"And bingo!"

The numbers, letters and symbols faded away to reveal the now decrypted file.

Tomoyo read quickly and gasped as she stared at the diagrams before her.

"Meiling! Sakura!" she called, "Come here now!"

She stared at the decrypted file and frowned. What on earth was going on?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The brunette haired woman stared at him. He tired to suppress a shudder as he stared into her dull, blank eyes.

He had dealt with his fair share of assassins, killers, extortionists, con artists and whatnot but this woman scared him. With her creepy empty eyes like that of a shark, she scared him right down to his soul.

"So Ms. Sasaki, will you take the job?" Lilia asked the woman.

Rika Sasaki who had been silent for the whole time, nodded.

Hayden felt a small moment of pity for the girls had who dared cross Spinnel Corporation but that moment passed quickly as he gingerly touched his chin. He was lucky his jaw was broken and damn it, his eyes were still slightly sore from that capsicum spray.

Lilia, his partner smiled at the woman and threw down a photo onto the desk between them.

"Here are their pictures. We managed to track them thanks to our outside surveillance cameras," Lilia smirked.

Honesty how stupid can you be? she thought, disabling the inner ones but not the outer cameras.

Rika looked at the pictures with her blank, empty eyes and nodded every so slightly.

"Good," Lilia closed her briefcase and locked it.

Just because Lilia and Hayden were partners didn't mean they were friends or they even trusted each other either. In fact they were enemies, Lilia had been delighted to hear that Hayden had blotched up and the disk had been stolen, now in the eyes of their boss Lilia was the better worker and that meant more power and more money.

Lilia leaned back into her chair and glanced at Hayden and couldn't help feel pride in her handling of this matter.

Hiring this mysterious Rika Sasaki to eliminate those girls had been a stroke of pure genius, Lilia smiled in satisfaction, once the girls were gone and disk back in the hands of Spinnel Corporation, her promotion to becoming an executive would be instant.

Hayden looked at his partner and knew what she was thinking. He had to thwart her plans and make her look bad. There was no way on earth he was going let her be promoted.

No chance in hell.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo had already e-mailed the decrypted file to Syaoran through a very secure connection. By now all the Angels were sitting on the sofa facing the speaker box ready for their next instructions.

"Angles, it seems you're going to Paris."

Sakura grinned in glee.

"However their scheduled date for their raid on the museum is not until another week. You have approximately five days to prepare."

"For what?" Sakura asked.

"The Corporation plans to steal an ancient artefact from the National Natural Museum in Paris. The museum is protected by state-of-the-art security systems and that means cameras and motion detectors at every corner. I want you girls to steal that artefact before the Corporation does, something tells me that there is something more to this."

Tomoyo nodded.

"The file came with diagrams of the room, in which the artefact is placed. It is criss-crossed with motion detectors and surveillance cameras. I could disable the cameras but I can't tamper with the detectors otherwise they would go off," she explained to her partners.

"So what? One of us has to get in there without triggering the detectors?" Meiling asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Precisely, Meiling," Syaoran told them.

Sakura whistled.

"That's gonna tough to pull off. So who's doing it?"

There was a pause.

"You are, Sakura."

"Me?" Sakura looked shocked, "Why me?"

"Simple," Syaoran explained, "Tomoyo will be too busy hacking in the computers to do it whilst Meiling is a good fighter she doesn't have the same gymnastic abilities you have. I had studied the diagrams, they require a lot of flips, rolls and graceful movements, only you can pull them off."

Sakura stood up.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go prepare!"

Meiling and Tomoyo stood up as well.

"I'll set up one the training rooms," Tomoyo suggested, "We'll get thread and recreate the beams of the motion detectors. Sakura, you can practice there."

Sakura nodded.

"Wait, if Tomoyo is hacking and Sakura is stealing what am I doing?" Meiling asked.

"Backup in case the Corporation arrives or security guards."

"Alright," Meiling grinned devilishly relishing the thought of a good fight.

"It seems you girls are ready. Good luck, Angels and goodbye."

"Goodbye Syaoran," the girls chorused before they went to begin preparing.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Rika Sasaki watched the building carefully. According to the Corporation people, this was where the girls lived and worked. Keeping her blank eyes trained on the door, she fitted a pair of gloves onto her hands.

These gloves were made of tough leather but that in itself was not peculiar, what really drew people's attention was the metal claws fixed onto each fingertip.

Rika felt no emotion about killing the girls; in fact she felt no emotion at all to anything. She was a human shell, a perfect killer void of conscience.

She was Rika Sasaki, the perfect assassin.

A new assassin but where is Eriol? Don't worry fans this is an E/T fic but still not sure about S/S yet. But Syaoran will appear (in person of course) in a later chapter and meets Sakura, how and where they will meet is a secret.

You know the drill, review!

Next Chapter:

As Rika makes her first attack on the girls, Eriol begins his campaign against the Angels. How will the girls ever find time to prepare themselves for the raid of Paris's Museum? Find out what happens in... _Countdown 'til Paris_

A/Note: Rika's (or Rita as she is known in the dub) eyes are like the ones she had when the Sword card possessed her in the show. You know the blank look on her face when she attacked Sakura?

Anyway the storyline is still in question so tell me A or B?


	4. Countdown 'til Paris

Thanks for all your wonderful reviews! For those who asked, this is a S+S fic with a twist. You'll see... ahhh... I love suspense!

Disclaimer: I don't owe anything aside from characters of my creation and the storyline.

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 3: Countdown 'til Paris**

Location: Los Angeles a.k.a. City of Angels, America

Sakura sat on the steps leading down to the Angel's underground training as she stretched the muscles in her arm readying herself for what was to come. She hid a smirk as the sound of talking floated up from the training room.

"A little higher," a voice called.

The sound of grumbling could be heard accompanied by the sound of a ladder rung creaking as someone stood heavily on it.

"A little to your left," the voice called.

More grumbling.

"Perfect... no wait a minute... a little lower."

"I'LL SHOW YOU A LITTLE LOWER!" Meiling cried finally running out of patience.

"Watch out!"

"WOAH!"

"BANG!"

Meiling had a painful meeting with the ground as she stumbled off the short stepladder she had been using. Tomoyo shook her head and studied the room.

"This seems to be okay," she commented glancing down at the diagrams she held in her hands.

Meiling muttered to herself as she straightened the ladder and stepped onto it again.

"What is this stuff?" she asked holding up the thick thread they had been using.

It was silver in colour and glittered slightly in the light.

"That is a metal cable," Tomoyo told her, "It's better than thread since it's a million times stronger and has a little bit of flexibility."

"Why can we use normal thread?" Meiling questioned as she placed the end of the cable onto the wall and nail-gunned it to the wall.

"Because I don't want to keep replacing broken thread. There is no way Sakura can break this stuff. Even a kitchen knife can't cut through this stuff," Tomoyo replied.

She demonstrated by pulling at the cable with all her strength. Nothing happened.

"See?"

"Are you ready now?" Sakura asked bounding down the stairs.

"Yeah," Tomoyo took a breath as Meiling climbed down the ladder and joined them, "Okay, this is where you would enter the room. The artefact is supposedly to be at the opposite wall, smack bang in the centre. Got it?"

Sakura nodded.

"Don't touch the cable," her friend added.

Meiling removed the stepladder from amidst the metal cables criss-crossing the room and Sakura's first attempt at going past all the pretend motion detectors was underway.

The American Angel studied the tangle of cables and made her first move. She stepped gingerly amidst the cables carefully lifting her leg among the cable making sure she wasn't touching any of the wires. She ducked under the next one and stood up carefully surveying her surroundings. Making her decision she dropped down again and swung her legs around slipping them under one of the cables and bent gracefully at the waist and placed her hands and arms over the cable. She then performed a quick flip bringing her legs under then over the cable and planting solidly on the ground over another cable. Finally she raised herself slowly making sure to bend her head back as she avoid another cable. She straightened and took a deep breath.

The whole room was silent as Meiling and Tomoyo watched Sakura's every movement carefully making sure that she was touching any of the cables.

"So far so good," Tomoyo called softly.

Sakura nodded and closed her eyes gathering her wits. She opened her eyes and made her next move.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Rika had been watching the building for well over half an hour. After making sure there were no surveillance cameras around, she swiftly crossed the street carefully keeping her gloves hidden from view. She walked up to the front door and pushed it open. It swung open silently and she came to another door. The front door swung shut behind her shutting out the noise of the outside world as she tried to open to second door. This one was locked.

Rika stood back and withdrew a gun from the leather holster she wore around her hip. She pointed the barrel at the lock and pulled the trigger.

"BAM!"

The bullet smashed the lock to scrap metal and the door swung open. Rika stood there frozen for a minute, a few minutes ticked by and satisfied that nobody had heard the gunshot she made her move. Placing the gun back into her hip holster, Rika surveyed the empty building with her blank eyes as her hands twitched slightly. The metal claws adorning the leather gloves glittered in the sunlight streaming in from windows. The assassin blinked as she heard a noise. Tracking down the source of it, she came to a door, which was partially open. The sound of voices reached her as she slipped in through the tiny gap careful not to make a noise. Stealthily she padded down the stairs and listened carefully.

"Sakura, lift your left arm higher a little," a voice called.

Rika's face was expressionless, like it always was as she silently moved in for the kill.

Sakura nodded to acknowledge Tomoyo's advice as she lifted her arm slightly higher avoiding the cable.

She looked up and took a deep breath. She was halfway there but a giant tangle of cables still stood in her way. She stood there for a second contemplating over what to do next.

"Try slipping under the first cable and going over the other," Meiling suggested.

Sakura pressed her body against the ground and slithered beneath the first cable, bending at the waist she raised her chest off the ground whilst still keeping her legs flat and placed her arms over the next cable.

She then did the same with her legs and found enough room to stand up and turn back to her friends.

"How am I going?" she asked with a small smile.

Then all hell broke loose.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling caught something glinting in the room's light and immediately her instincts kicked in.

"TOMOYO! GET DOWN!" she roared.

Just as the words left her mouth somebody leapt out from shadows. Meiling instinctively ducked as she felt something whoosh by overhead.

"Meiling!" Sakura yelled.

Meiling ignored her and back-pedalled as she tried to see who her opponent was. A petite woman with short curly dark hair stared at her with creepy, blank eyes. Meiling gulped seeing those eyes but her attention was immediately drawn towards the gloves the woman wore. Or more specifically the long metal claws on those gloves.

Expressionless the woman lunged at her, her claws slicing through the air. Meiling sidestepped one of them but the other came down and left a long cut on her arm. Biting back a curse, Meiling grabbed the woman's arms and swung her around into a wall. Tomoyo jumped back as the creepy-eyed woman lunged at her trying to shred her to ribbons with the claws.

Determination in her eyes, Tomoyo dodged another attack and punched the woman in the face. The woman ignored her injuries and instead scored a cut on Tomoyo's shoulder.

"TOMOYO!" Meiling growled as Sakura echoed her.

Meiling leapt into the air and launched a quick succession of kicks at the woman's chest each one landing with deadly accuracy. She landed and grabbed the stunned woman's arm and threw her away.

The woman hit the tangle of metal cables and tripped over one sprawling amongst the metallic ropes.

Meiling cursed as the woman stood up again. Whoever this woman was she was seriously freaky, she still hadn't said a word and her eyes still had that same blank look.

The woman slashed at the metal cables but her claws merely glanced off the metal.

"Told you they were strong," Tomoyo smirked to Meiling.

Meiling glared at her as Sakura charged at the woman.

Jumping over and ducking under the cables, Sakura made it to the woman and rabbit-punched her in the shoulder. The woman turned to look at her and attacked trying to slash at Sakura but she was greatly hampered by the metal cables surrounding her. Sakura expertly leapt over the cables and dodged her advances. Landing onto one of the cables themselves, Sakura smiled as the cable bent slightly. She leapt off it and kicked the woman in mid-flight, the woman gripped her chest but kept her eyes trained on Sakura. Sakura twisted around in midair and allowed her back to slam into two of cables strung between the walls of the room.

"This rocks!" she crowed.

Sakura bounced herself off the cables and body-slammed the woman. The woman stumbled backwards and tripped over one of the cables.

"Sakura! Get out of there!" Meiling yelled.

Sakura shrugged and leapt, ducked and flipped over the cables until she rejoined her partners. The Angels moved into defensives stances.

The woman stood up and yanked a number of the cables pull them free from the walls. Meiling sighed seeing her whole morning's work being ripped away.

The woman leapt over the fallen cables and attacked again her claws becoming nothing more than blurs as she whipped than around.

"Go for the legs!" Sakura yelled.

Tomoyo ducked a swipe and tackled the woman. She grabbed the woman around the ankles and sent her toppling as Meiling charged.

"I don't know who you are pussy cat," Meiling taunted the woman, "but you messed with wrong girls."

Meiling grabbed the woman around the waist trapping her hands against her own body. She ran towards a wall and slammed the woman into it with all her might.

"CRACK!"

Meiling felt the body go limp and let go as the woman slumped to the ground.

"Is she dead?" Sakura asked breathing heavily.

Meiling checked for a pulse.  
"Alive but knocked out," she confirmed.

"Who is she?" Tomoyo asked.

"And those eyes," Sakura shuddered.

Meiling had to agree with her.

"Who knows, who cares?" Meiling shrugged, "Get some handcuffs and we're delivering this kitty to the police."

Sakura and Tomoyo couldn't agree more.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Eriol parked his rented car alongside the road and getting a pair of binoculars out from his bag he trained it onto the building where he had been told the Angels were.

He was a patient person preferring to spy in on his quarry before going in for the kill. Killing was a very delicate job that required much patience and skill if one wanted to succeed in what he did.

But he didn't have to wait very long for his very glimpse of the girls.

He caught sight of the Asian girl first who was carrying someone over her shoulder.

Hang on... Eriol narrowed his eyes as he saw something familiar.

The woman the Asian girl was carrying was wearing gloves and those claws... Eriol sucked in his breath.

"Rika," he murmured.

Eriol kept a close eye on his fellow assassins and he knew that Rika was one of the rising stars in his line of work. It always paid off to watch his fellow killers, it also paid off to kill off people who did _too _well. Eriol didn't like competition.

As Eriol contemplated over this new revelation, the other two girls walked out as well. Eriol watched with narrowed eyes as Rika was bundled into a car.

He didn't like this one bit.

If the girls were strong enough to take out Rika than facing them with brute strength was not going to work. Some other method had to be used.

But what?

He peered into his binoculars carefully studying each girl. With a small smile on his face, he watched the lavender-eyed beauty who had caught his eye in the photo.

A plan began developing in his head. He calculated the risks and liked the results.

"Perfect..."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling sat with the back to her wall, exhausted from spending the whole night fixing up the metal cables again. With a cup of coffee clutched between her hands, she ignored the throbbing pain in her cut arm.

Sakura, showing no side effects from yesterday's close shave with the assassin expertly twirled around sweeping legs over two cables and planted it in an empty space before bringing the rest of her body over.

"You know you have to do this blindfolded," Meiling called.

"What?" Sakura almost lost of her balance but steadied herself quickly.

She turned to Meiling and sent her a disbelieving look.

"You won't be able to see the beams of the motion detectors," Meiling informed her.

"Great," Sakura grumbled, "I've got less than four days to learn how to do this whilst being blindfolded."

With renewed energy she attacked the criss-crossing cables. After five more minutes, Sakura did her last flip and landed straight in front of where the artefact was supposed to be.

"Oh yeah!" Sakura cheered pumping her fists.

"Good," Meiling smirked as she stood up.

She held up a piece of black cloth.

"Now for the blindfold."

Sakura sighed and made her way back to Meiling.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo sat in front of her computer again, her shoulder still hurt but the pain was slowly subsiding. She had just woken up, which explained why her normally neat hair was mussed and she was still wearing her purple pyjamas. Stifling a yawn, she searched extensively on the Internet for information about their clawed assassin.

Biting onto her bottom lip, Tomoyo tried every site she could think of, she even hacked into the police files but this assassin whoever she was must be a beginner or an expert. Either way she was still as mysterious as she had been when she had first appeared.

Tomoyo sighed and stretched her back.

She heard yelling coming from the training room and blinked in surprise. Getting up she went down to see what Sakura and Meiling was up to.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura undid her blindfold and sighed as she worked herself free from the tangle of cables she had managed to stumble into. Meiling cackled with amusement as Sakura managed to work her head free to glare at her.

"This isn't funny!" she snapped.

Sakura tried to get up and was sent sprawling again as she cables twined around her feet. She landed in an undignified heap as Meiling laughed again.

"What's so funny?" Tomoyo walked into the training room and smiled seeing Sakura pick herself up again, "Doing it blindfolded?"

Sakura nodded.

"Having luck?"

"None." Sakura said glumly picking her way back to the starting point to attempt it all over again.

Sakura yanked her blindfold back on again and stepped amidst the metal cables. She slipped under the first one okay but as she tried to go over the next one she smacked her forehead right into it.

"Ow!" Sakura jumped up and her neck collided with another metal cable sending her tumbling back to ground.

Meiling burst into laughter again as Sakura growled in frustration and started all over again.

"Good luck," Tomoyo said sympathetically.

She turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Meiling asked her retreating back.

"I'm going to get breakfast."

Tomoyo went up to bedroom and began changing.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Eriol couldn't help but smile seeing the smoky-grey haired girl leaving the building. She walked to one of the cars parked along the street and got in. A few minutes she drove off. Eriol waited for a few seconds before starting up his rented car and began following the girl.

She didn't suspect thing.

Eriol was careful to keep a few cars in between them but kept her car within his sights.

He smiled up into rear-view mirror and liked what he saw. A well-dressed, handsome young man smiled back at him. He adjusted his shirt's collar slightly before turning back to his driving.

After a few more minutes of driving the girl stopped in front of the shopping mall and got out, Eriol parked his car a few metres away and taking long purposeful strides walked into the mall. He spotted her immediately amongst the crowd and began tailing her.

Adrenaline pumped through his body as he anticipated what was to come.

He smiled to himself as the girl walked into one of the many cafés located inside the shopping mall.

Eriol waited and then he saw the perfect opportunity.

And he took it.

Tomoyo hummed to herself as she walked into the café and ordered a coffee and a bagel. She knew there were people checking her out but she ignored them. It was too early in the morning for flirting and she needed a good shot of caffeine before she could even think straight.

Tomoyo thanked the waitress as she handed her order over. Throwing the money onto the counter, Tomoyo walked out of the café.

She began puzzling over what the mysterious woman assassin meant. Was she somehow connected with Spinnel Corporation? Tomoyo trusted her instincts and right now they were screaming at her. That woman had probably been hired by the Corporation to take them out of action. Tomoyo shuddered remembering the woman's blank eyes void of emotion and wondered what was wrong with her.

She was so caught up in her thoughts she was oblivious to her surroundings.

"BAM!"

She ran into something warm and hard. Tomoyo let out a small cry as she stumbled backwards but a pair of strong arms grabbed her waist before she fell over. She looked up to thank her rescuer but the words died on her lips as she stared up into the most handsome face she had ever seen.

He's hot! she thought blushing profusely.

"So... sorr... sorry!" Tomoyo managed to stutter.

She mentally hit herself for acting like a teenager girl getting a note from a secret admirer. The man smiled at her, his dark blue eyes barely hiding his amusement.

"No worries," he said easily.

Tomoyo took a step back and studied him. He was around her age, she guessed. He was tall and had a nice muscular figure. His dark blue eyes watched her as she studied his face.

He had nicely tanned skin and his face was framed by long straight grey-blue hair. His lips were soft and they were smiling at her revealing straight white teeth.

"Hello?" he asked his voice was pleasant to hear and very refined.

"What?" Tomoyo blinked out of stupor as the man looked at her quizzically.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah... yeah of course I am," Tomoyo gave a little laugh as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

Miraculously her coffee had survived her stumble with the man and she sipped it slowly to give her hands something to do.

The man laughed and his laughter was warm and inviting.

"Haven't woken up yet?" he asked with an easy grin.

Tomoyo smiled at him.

"Well, nice to meet you..."

"Tomoyo," she plucked up her courage, "What's your name?"

"Eriol Moon," he said giving her a false last name.

Eriol... nice name

Tomoyo snapped out her semi-trance and her eyes widened as she remembered where she was and what she had to investigate.

"For the last time I'm very sorry," she said looking at him squarely in the eyes, "I didn't mean to bump into you."

"There's no need to be sorry," Eriol assured her, "I don't mind it if beautiful woman bump into me."

Tomoyo blushed and mumbled a goodbye before fleeing.

He is hot! her mind seemed to be melting into a useless pool of liquid as Tomoyo fought back the urge to look back.

A blushing Tomoyo raced to her car and drove off hurriedly.

Eriol smiled to himself and congratulated himself for a job well done.

She is beautiful the thought came unbidden into his head.

The assassin shook his head trying to get rid of that thought but the grey-haired beauty lingered in his mind's eyes even as he walked back to his car and drove off.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Hmm... Eriol and Tomoyo meeting for the first time... is it love at first sight? (duh!) But how will Tomoyo react when she finds out Eriol is an assassin? You'll just have to find out...

Okay, for all the people who reviewed this is going to be a S+S, with a slight twist. You'll see, they'll meet in a later chapter. You'll just have to wait.

Next chapter:

The five days are up and girls are flown into Paris as they undertake their mission to get to the artefact before Spinnel Corporation does. But what happens when two international thieves have their eyes fixed on the same prize? Will the Angels succeed or will they fail? And what is Spinnel Corporation's infatuation with this mysterious artefact? Find on in..._ Midnight Raiders_

A/Note: I've had equal number of people wanting A or B storyline. If you review please, please choose one! (B is a little ahead at this point)

Also should Sakura find out that her mother, Nadeshiko was an ex-Angel who was killed when she was betrayed by one of her own teammates?

And should I add in anime character cameos in later chapters?


	5. Midnight Raiders

Before I begin this chapter I would just like to apologise because sadly enough the two international thieves that were going to star in this chapter would not appear. Why? Because the chapter would become too long! But don't worry they will appear later and will most likely become the first anime character cameos (see author's notes). Anyway on with the story!

Disclaimer: I wish I own CCS or Charlie's Angels but sadly I do not (sigh).

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 4: Midnight Raiders**

_Location: Los Angeles a.k.a. City of Angels, America_

Sakura flipped over the last cable and grinned before taking off her blindfold.

"Alright! I did it!" she crowed triumphantly.

"Finally." Meiling grumbled. Sakura glared at her and stuck her blindfold back on and without much trouble made it back to her.

"Done." Sakura confirmed yanking off her blindfold and grinning at Meiling, "All I have to worry about is the glass case surrounding the artefact."

"I figured out a way to get past that," Tomoyo walked down the stairs, "Here I'll show you."

Sakura nodded and ran up the stairs as Meiling slowly followed.

The speaker box flickered to life as the girls quietened down and waited.

"Good morning Angels," Syaoran greeted them.

"Good morning Syaoran!"

"I've dug around and came out with the identity of your assassin," Syaoran told them, "Look at the video screen."

The girls looked to their left as the decorated wooden panels on the way slid down smoothly into the wall to reveal a large blank screen.

A picture appeared onto the screen. Meiling shuddered seeing the blank-eyed woman staring back at them.

"That is Rika Sasaki. She's a relatively new assassin but she's one of the best," Syaoran began, "She is a very skilled fighter however she uses her clawed gloves to kill her quarry as well as using weapons of various sorts."

"Why has she got those creepy eyes?" Sakura asked staring at the screen.

"From what I gather, Rika as a child had a split-personality. There is Rita, who is the 'normal' one and Rika the mindless conscienceless killer. Unfortunately Rita is the weaker personality and Rika dominates. Rita/Rika was admitted into a mental ward nine years ago but the trauma of their stay caused Rita's personality to all but disappear and Rika took control. She then broke out of the ward and disappeared for four years before remerging as an assassin."

The Angels blinked at the speaker box not understanding a word of it. Even Tomoyo only understood half of what Syaoran said.

"It doesn't matter," Syaoran told them," Are you ready?"

The question was directed towards Sakura.

"Of course," Sakura grinned, "I'm confident I can get through all of the detectors and steal the artefact without triggering the alarms."

"Good. So everything is on schedule?"

"Yes," Tomoyo replied, "We leave this afternoon and we touch down in Paris tomorrow. We have one day to check out the museum and then we do it."

"Very good. Good luck Angels."

"No worries," Meiling told the box with a grin.

"I didn't think I have to worry. Goodbye Angels."

"Goodbye Syaoran."

The girls got up and went to pack.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Location: Paris, France_

The flight attendant smiled at them and motioned for them to go.

"Merci, monsieur," Sakura said flashing him a grin as they walked through customs.

"Flirt," Meiling muttered.

Sakura merely grinned at her as they went to pick up their bags.

"Okay, this is the plan," Tomoyo told them getting down to business, "We check in at the hotel, remember I'm Madison Avalon, Meiling you're Victoria Avalon and Sakura is Cherry Avalon and we're cousins on holiday. In the afternoon we're going to the National Museum of Paris and tonight we're carrying out the raid. Any questions?"

Meiling and Sakura shook their heads.

"Good," Tomoyo smiled at them, "For now let's have some fun!"

Sakura and Meiling exchanged devilish grins as they quickened their pace.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling blinked as tears flowed into her eyes. She rubbed the back of her hands against her eyes and growled in frustration.

"Why do we have to do this?" she muttered to Tomoyo wondering why on earth she had agreed to wear contact lenses.

"It disguises us," Tomoyo whispered back.

Meiling's ruby eyes were hidden beneath a pair of contact lenses and her coal-black hair was covered from view by a baseball cap. Tomoyo was wearing a pair of sunglasses and a cream-coloured hat covered her long smoky-grey hair.

Sakura who was talking to the hotel clerk was wearing a blonde wig and blue contact lenses. Meiling envied the way all the men walking past their eyes were drawn immediately towards either Sakura and Tomoyo. Meiling sighed.

Who needs to be beautiful when they can be tough? she thought rebelliously.

But still... a treacherous part of her mind thought.

Meiling shook her head and concentrated on her friend.

"Oui, je m'appelle Cherry Avalon et mon cousines elles s'appelle Madison et Victoria," Sakura told the clerk in perfect French.

My name is Cherry and my cousin's names are Madison and Victoria Meiling translated mentally proud of herself for being able to understand what was being said.

The clerk handed over a few envelopes and smiled at Sakura as the Angel thanked her and turned back to her friends.

"Here you go," Sakura handed over an envelope to Tomoyo and Meiling, "we're on the fifth floor. Leave your bags here someone will take them up for us."

Tomoyo nodded but still grabbed one of her bags as Meiling did the same.

"What's in those?" Sakura asked curious.

"Equipment."

"Weapons."

"Oh."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Here it is," Tomoyo whispered.

"And in this room," their guide told them English, "is where the ancient artefacts from China are displayed for the general public."

The rest of the tour group ooh-ed and ah-ed as they walked into the room. Meiling felt slightly wistful seeing so much of her own country's proud heritage being displayed here.

She had removed her contact lenses, which had already put her in a slightly better mood and seeing this made her feel a lot better. Smiling at Sakura, who returned her grin they got to work studying the room checking for any surveillance cameras.

"There," Sakura murmured.

Meiling nodded.

"This is slightly bigger than the trainer room," Tomoyo noted, "But that shouldn't be a problem."

Sakura nodded and glanced at the room noting the decorative marble tiles and pillars as she casually looked around searching motion detectors.

"Before you begin you're going to have to put a special camera on the floor," Tomoyo told her, "That camera is connected to my computer and allows me to see the beams of the detectors. I can tell you what to do if you're unsure. Sakura, you have thirty minutes to steal the thing and get out. The patrol guards pass this place every half an hour."

Sakura nodded.

"I can make it," she said confidently.

"And you can be sure I'll be outside kicking butt," Meiling grinned.

Her smile fell.

"If there is anybody to fight in the first place," she added.

Tomoyo smiled back at her knowing her friend's ability to beat anybody in a fight and pretended to look at one of the displays so she didn't look suspicious.

"I'm going to see what I'm stealing," Sakura whispered.

Meiling nodded and the two girls walked towards one of the display cabinets set in the opposite wall.

Sakura gasped seeing what she was stealing.

"Wow." Meiling said breathlessly.

Sakura silently agreed with her.

Nestled on a piece of red velvet lay a thick red leather-bound book. Sakura gasped as she studied this mysterious artefact, gold had been inlaid into the hard cover it was glittering in the artificial lighting as gems of all kind and description winked at her. A picture of a snarling winged lion with ivory fangs and ruby for eyes glared up at her as Sakura tried to decipher the strange writing beneath it.

"What is this?" she murmured spellbound by this mysterious book.

"I've heard of it in legends back in China," Meiling whispered in awe," the Book of Fei Lao Shi."

Sakura looked at her quizzically.

"Flying Lion," Meiling translated before turning back to look at the book almost reverently, "it is written in a language no one can decipher but many believe it holds the secret to many mysteries."

"Like what?"

"Immortality."

Sakura stared at the book in awe.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"It's one of a kind."

Sakura grinned at her.

"It's ours."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura grimaced seeing what she was wearing.

"Is this really necessary?" Sakura asked picking at her clothing.

"Yes," Tomoyo told her distractedly as she began hacking into surveillance camera system.

The girls had already stolen into the now empty museum, Meiling look down the corridor one last time before closing the door and flicking on her flashlight.

"I love this job. The surroundings are so luxurious," she smiled wryly flashing her light around revealing mops, brooms, buckets and cleaning agents of all colours and types.

Tomoyo ignored her as she continued typing away rapidly. Sakura sighed and looked down and grimaced seeing what she was wearing. It was a one-piece suit made completely out of some kind of black material that was a cross between leather and plastic. It covered her whole body from her feet up to the top of her head but it had a large circle in it so it didn't cover up her face as well. Sakura sighed and wished she could just get this over and done with.

"Okay, I'm in and all cameras are now under my control," Tomoyo smiled impishly, "Inside _and _outside."

"Good. We can go then."

Tomoyo nodded.

"Here," she handed Sakura a small black backpack-like bag, "Put this on."

Sakura strapped the bag onto her back tightly as Tomoyo handed her two more things.

"Put this in you ear," she instructed handing her a small communication device, "and this is the camera."

Sakura gingerly held the camera after she put the device into her ear.

"Place that on the ground before you try to get through the motion detectors," Tomoyo told her, "Now we'll test our com-link."

She shoved a pair of headphones onto her head and spoke into the microphone attached to it.

"Testing... 1... 2... 3... testing."

"I can hear you loud and clear," Sakura flashed her a grin.

"Good luck," Meiling told her.

Sakura smiled and squeezed past Meiling and opened the door and left.

"I'm leaving," Meiling told Tomoyo.

"Be careful and put on your com-link," Tomoyo said looking at her laptop screen.

Meiling nodded and shoved the device into her ear before leaving as well. Tomoyo tapped a button and the screen split into a dozen different screens each showing a different part of the museum. By taking control of the cameras, Tomoyo now saw what each camera was seeing.

"Good luck," Tomoyo whispered as she sat down and prepared herself for a long wait.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The museum guard glanced casually down at the TV screens, which showed what each camera was looking at. He sighed and checked to see if there was anything out of ordinary.

Nothing.

He yawned and lay back into his chair and waited for a long boring night.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura gently placed the camera onto marble floor and waited.

_'It's working,'_ Tomoyo said through their com-link.

The auburn-haired Angel winked at the camera and immediately whirled around and got to work.

Closing her eyes, Sakura concentrated and let her body do the work. After the long hours spent in practice, Sakura's body was able to remember every single move it had to make to get through the motion detectors. Sliding along the ground she passed under the first beam and rolled to her side to slip in between another two.

She got up and flipped over the next with feline grace. Tomoyo, watching through the camera smiled seeing her friend's body move like water: slow, deliberate and graceful. Sakura kept her eyes closed as she made her next move passing over another beam.

So far so good.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling hummed softly to herself as she sat on the museum's front stairs and inspected her nails. She sighed and half wished that something would happen so she could at least have something to do.

Five seconds later her wish was fulfilled.

_'Meiling, one of the cameras in the north-eastern corner has suddenly been taken out,' _Tomoyo informed her through their link.

"Finally," Meiling smirked.

Gracefully she got up and immediately sprinted around the building. What she saw made her stop.

A group of people dressed in military-like uniform with night-vision goggles, black Kevlar gearing and each carrying a weapon were silently making their way to the across the grass to museum complex.

Whoever these guys were they weren't here to protect the artefact. That was for sure. Meiling smirked and studied her new battlefield.

Seeing a row of trees, she stealthily made her way over and leapt up into the air grabbing onto one of the branches and climbed up into the foliage. Leaping from tree to tree, Meiling made her way unnoticed until she was directly above the invaders. From her vantage point she could hear them all talking.

"Team Alpha, is in place," one of the military-like men said into a black radio he was holding in his gloved hands, "Repeat Team Alpha is in place."

The man listened for a while and turned to the rest of the group.

"Okay, Team Beta is in place and Spinnel Corporation has given the green light. Fan out men!"

"Well, Team Meiling is also in place!" Meiling swung down from the trees and in less than a second had taken the leader down.

"Come on, boys," Meiling grinned, "Who wants to play with little old me?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo bit onto her bottom lip and hoped that Meiling was all right. She glanced at her screen and saw that Sakura was making good progress through the beams.

"Right leg a little higher," she told her fellow Angel through their communication, "Left arm a little lower."

Sakura obeyed and slipped past another two of the motion detectors. Tomoyo watched the screen in concentration and glanced at her wristwatch.

Twenty minutes left and counting...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling knew that the Team Alpha or whatever they called themselves were too close together to use their guns safely without hitting a fellow teammate. She took full advantage of this knowledge and moved quickly trying to take out as many as possible.

Her fists were a blur as she backhanded one of them and grimaced as her knuckles smacked into the hard plastic of the night-vision goggles. She ignored the pain instead opting to kick the man in the ribs and follow up with a quick spin kick to the face.

Hearing sudden movement behind her, she whirled around and introduced one of them to Mrs. Elbow. The man roared in pain and clasped his nose as blood poured down his face. Smiling sympathetically, she swept him of his feet with a quick leg sweep and jumped up for more.

"Man, whoever's training you must teach you more about hand-to-hand combat," she said conversationally as she leapt into the air and splitting her legs far apart as possible, she kicked two commandos in the chest with incredible force sending them flying backwards into their own teammates.

"Get her!" one of men cried.

Meiling shook her head as two of them charged at her like bellowing bulls.

"All brawn and no grace," Meiling sighed as she attacked, "This is so pitiful."

She socked one of them in the stomach and as the man keeled over in pain and began coughing and gasping in pain, she grabbed his shoulders and leapt into the air. She whipped her legs to the side and kicked the other charging commando in the chest. The man sprawled backwards into an unconscious heap.

Meiling leapt of the man's shoulders and landed lightly in front of him.

"Thanks," she said with a grin.

One swift karate chop to the neck and he was down for the count.

"Fire!" the man who had spoken before cried, "Shoot her!"

Meiling's eyes widened as the rest of the depleted group hefted their weapons and pointed the barrel straight at her.

"FIRE!"

Meiling moved into action immediately, she charged right at the group knowing they were not expecting that at all. They faltered and made a fatal error. Instead of shooting at her, they hesitated not knowing what to do with this crazy suicidal woman charging at them.

Their hesitation cost them dearly, Meiling reached them and knocked one of the guns away as she elbowed the gun's owner in the chest causing him to stagger backwards slightly. She whipped both of her arms around and grabbed two of the men's collars and brought them together smiling in satisfaction as the two heads connected with a loud crunch. Both men slumped to the ground as Meiling let go of their clothing.

"Wow, only one left," Meiling fixed her most evil glare at the man who had commanded for them to shoot her.

He brought his gun up and fired but Meiling was already in motion. Leaping to the side, she dodged the path of the speeding bullets. In one smooth motion, she landed and immediately went into a cartwheel timing it so her foot collided with the man's head. She landed lightly and smirked as the man collapsed.

"Problem has been neutralised," she told Tomoyo.

_'Good, stay alert,' _Tomoyo warned.

Meiling nodded and began walking away. It was only when she reached the steps of museum, she realised something.

The man had said something about another team... Team Beta

Her ruby eyes widened as she began talking frantically into her com-link.

"Tomoyo! We've got a problem!"

'What?'

Meiling opened her mouth to speak but was stopped as she heard a muffled 'boom'. The museum itself literally shook as some of the windows shattered.

"That problem," Meiling said wryly.

Without another thought, Meiling ran to the front door and with a mighty kick shattered the glass door and calmly walked in. The security guard woke up suddenly and jumped up staring at her.

"Sto... sto... stop! Fre... freeze!" he stammered drawing his gun.

A gloved fist put him back into dreamland as Meiling ran as fast as she could to the exhibition room.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura gasped in shock as all the alarms went off and a group of commando-like people stepped through the smoking hole in the wall.

"Son of a..." Sakura growled.

She leapt up and raced to the glass case housing the book.

"Shoot her!" a voice yelled from behind her.

Sakura leapt behind one of the marble pillars just in the nick of time as bullets shattered glass and sent chips of broken marble flying up into the air.

She was pinned.

"Tomoyo! Get Meiling here right now!" Sakura bellowed.

'She's coming! Hold on!'

"Holy..."

"FREEZE!"

Sakura risked a peek as she stuck her head out from behind the pillar. She swore as she saw the platoon of security guards standing at the doorway. The commandos turned around to study them.

"Shoot them," their leader commanded.

Sakura looked wistfully at the glass case holding the book one last time and knew that she would rather give up the artefact then see innocent people get slaughtered. Taking a deep breath, she made her choice.

Well, it looks like storyline B has won out in the end. And the answer to ms.evil's questions is that if A had won in the end, I would have redone all the chapters to suit the storyline but since B won it doesn't really matter does it?

And to the people who reviewed don't worry this is going to turn out to be an E/T fic! Syaoran should appear in the near future so keep any eye out for him.

Next chapter:

The Angels' plans have hit a slight hitch and now Sakura and Meiling have to steal the book whilst defeating the Spinnel corporation commandos and keeping the security guards safe. Will they succeed or will they fail? Find out in... _All Out Angel Assault_

A/Note: Okay, maybe I should have explained it better. Anime character cameos are when characters from another anime (eg. Sailor Moon) are put into story for a short amount of time (eg. one chapter). Of course these anime characters won't be exactly the same as they would be in their own shows instead they will be changed to suit the story. So, do you like the sound of that?

And should Sakura find out her mother, Nadeshiko was an ex-Angel who was killed when a fellow teammate betrayed her?


	6. All Out Angel Assault

REVIEWS! MORE I WANT MORE! PLEASSEEEEE!!

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 5: All Out Angel Assault **

Sakura looked wistfully at the glass case holding the book one last time and knew that she would rather give up the artefact then see innocent people get slaughtered. Taking a deep breath, she made her choice.

Meiling sprinted as fast as she could to the exhibition room and gritted her teeth as she heard the sound of gunshots.

"Sakura, I'm coming!" she yelled as she put on an extra spurt of speed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo gasped seeing the situation in the exhibition room. Yanking off her headphones, she slammed her laptop shut and shoved it into her bag. She got up hurriedly and ran to door.

She grabbed the doorknob and tried to yank it open.

"Chink," the door made a strange noise.

Tomoyo glared at the door and jiggled the knob.

"Chink, chink."

It was locked. Tomoyo stared at the door in shock.

Tomoyo suddenly screamed in frustration and kicked the door.

"Chink."

Tomoyo stood back and landed two hefty kicks on the door.

"OPEN!" she roared.

"BANG! BANG!"

Two more kicks landed but still the door stood.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura charged the unsuspecting commandos from behind and took out two before they even noticed her.

"Kill her!" the leader roared as he continued firing at the security guards who by now were hiding behinds the walls in fear as bullets slammed into the walls and floors spraying everyone with broken chips of marble and plaster.

"You wish," Sakura snarled as she punched another commando in the face and hurled him at his teammates.

Amidst the ensuring confusion, Sakura continued her attack lashing out with both feet and fists at anybody within her rage. None of the commandos could shoot her without hitting one of their own.

"I'll do it!" the leader snapped.

The commandos crawled away to safety leaving Sakura to face the gun all by herself. Sakura's eyes widened as the commando sneered at her.

"Uh uh, I don't think so," a familiar voice said.

A hand tapped his shoulder as the command whirled around in time to see a fist come crashing into his face.

"Meiling!" Sakura gaped at her friend.

"I'm here and ready to fight!"

Grinning at each other, Sakura and Meiling got to work working together in perfect synchronisation to fight the remaining commandos. They were amazing, Meiling punched one of the commandos and whirled around to kick another as Sakura finished off the commando Meiling had punched and Meiling elbowed a commando who was sneaking up behind the American Angel.

"Delta Team! We need backup! I repeat we need backup!" one of the commandos roared into his radio.

Both Angels growled as they prepared themselves for a long battle ahead.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

In another part of the museum far away from the fighting, a door trembled as a powerful force slammed into it over and over again. Muffled curses could be heard as the banging became stronger.

"BANG!"

Finally the door banged open to reveal an extremely angry Japanese girl. Tomoyo gave the door one last venomous glare before sprinting off to join her friends in battle.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Sakura! Get the book! I'll hold them off!" Meiling roared.

Moving swiftly she took out the rest of Team Beta as Sakura raced towards the glass case.

"Freeze!" the security guards had come out of their hiding and were now pointing their guns at Sakura. Their hands trembled violently as they tried to put on a brave face.  
Meiling rolled her eyes.

"So now you come out?" she asked.

The head security guard opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by another explosion. Meiling shielded her face as another smoking hole was creating. Fresh commandos poured into the exhibition room. The security guards hurriedly ran back to the safety of the walls.

"Cowards," Meiling sneered as she faced the new commandos.

Risking a look backwards she could see Sakura was almost to the book.

"Cut her off," one of the commandos commanded.

Gunfire sprayed the ground as Sakura leapt up into the air dodging the bullets. She landed and immediately rolled away behind a pillar.

"Get the book," the leader commanded.

Four commandos immediately moved into action as the rest of their team faced Meiling.

"Get rid of her."

Meiling leapt into the air as bullets hit the ground and walls. Twisting her body in mid-air she kicked one of the commandos heavily in the chest.

"Wow, ten onto one," a voice said behind the commandos, "Let's even the odds out shall we?"

Tomoyo joined the brawl as Meiling smirked and attacked. She heard gunshots in the background and hope Sakura was holding her own.

Meiling needn't had worried. Sakura easily evaded the bullets and got to work.

"ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!" Sakura let out a fierce war cry as she lunged at the commandos.

She leapt to the ground and swept two commandos off their feet as she leapt up and punched another. She immediately moved into a flip as the other commando tried to fire at her. The shots went wild as Sakura timed her last flip so her legs hit his shoulder and bringing her legs together she wrapped them around the man's neck.

Lifting herself up she straddled the man's shoulder and punched him in the head and smiled in satisfaction as he collapsed.

"HIYA!" Sakura leapt up and spun around kicking another commando in the chest.

The other two jumped up and fired at her as Sakura raced to the other side of the room to dodge them. Seeing a pillar she ran up the smooth marble column as bullets sprayed the hard tiles beneath her. She leapt off the pillar and spun around in mid-air before kicking both men with all the power she had. They were sent flying into the glass displays and thankfully remained still.

Sakura blew on her nails and polished them on her clothes.

"And the score is Sakura four, enemy nothing!" she smirked before turning back to her prize.

Meiling was sent flying as the commando tackled her. She crashed into the glass cabinet and groaned in pain.

"MEILING!" Tomoyo yelled as she walloped another commando in the gut, "Are you okay?"

"Dandy," Meiling grumbled as she levered herself from the debris.

She reached backwards to push herself onto her feet again but stopped as she felt something long, hard and... sharp. Meiling grinned.

"Ooo... shiny," she cooed as she picked up the ancient sword that had been lying in the glass cabinet.

It may have been over a thousand year old sword but it was still just as sharp and just as deadly as the day it was forged.

"I think you've got a too bigger ego. Let me _cut_ you down to size," Meiling smirked to the commando who had tackled her.

Expertly she twirled the sword in her hands and chopped at the commando grimacing as the metal bounced off his Kevlar gearing.

"Stupid Kevlar," she growled.

She swung it around at head height and as the man ducked, kneed him in the face. He collapsed with a howl of pain as Meiling whirled and wielded her sword expertly preparing herself for a fresh wave of attacks.

Sakura knelt down and picked up one of the guns the commandos had dropped and used the butt of it to smash the glass casing. The alarms went off but Sakura ignored it and grabbed the book instead.

Smiling to herself, she unzipped the pack she wore on her back and slipped the book inside. Making sure the book was secure she whirled around.

"I've got it!" she yelled, "Let's go!"

Meiling and Tomoyo nodded as they hurried to get rid of the commandos.

"Sorry boys time for us to go," Tomoyo smirked as Meiling knelt down on the ground.

Tomoyo ran at her partner and placed her hands on Meiling's shoulders and lifted herself up into the air. She kicked the final three commandos and jumped down as they flew through the air and hit the wall. With a final moan they slumped down to the ground and all was silent except for the sound of the ringing alarms.

"Au revoir," Meiling waved at the knocked out commandos as Sakura joined them.

"Got it?"

"You bet."

"Let's go."

The three Angels pushed through the crowd of stunned security guards standing in the doorway and raced out of the museum.

Finally the security guards gathered their wits and began frantically yelling down their radios for the police and military to come and help them.

It was only a long time later they remembered that the book had been stolen and by then Victoria, Madison and Cherry Avalon were sitting in a first class seat on a non-stop flight to America.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Hayden laughed wildly as Lilia slammed down her mobile phone onto the desk. She shot him a look of disgust as Hayden sniggered.

"How did it go?" he asked smoothly.

Lilia gritted her teeth.

"Not well."

Arching an eyebrow Hayden put on his most patronising smile.

"Oh dear, I wonder how the boss would react to this little news..." he sighed, "And how are we going to get poor Rika out of jail?"

Lilia sat down at her desk and glared at him from across the ebony desk.

"This is all your fault," she snarled, "if you hadn't lost that disk..."

"But you assured the boss you could fix this little problem. You said leave it to me and everything will turn out all right," Hayden smirked, "so how are our Special Task Teams?"

Lilia silently seethed and glared at her partner.

"Are they all in jail?" Hayden sighed, "Well, well this is going to be interesting."

"What do you mean?" Lilia snapped.

"How are you ever going to explain to our boss that three of our Special Task Teams are now cooling their heels in prison? Do you have any idea how much it will cost to bribe officials to get them out?"

Lilia glared at him with vicious loathing.

"We're both at fault here," she reminded him.

"That's why I think we should put ourself our bickering and work together for once," Hayden said getting to the point, "It's the only way we can fix this little problem."

"Fine," Lilia growled.

"First we need to get our little assassin out of jail."

Lilia shuddered thinking about Rika's blank eyes but she beat down her fear and disgust and nodded her consent.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Well, good job Angels on getting the book and you also managed to get yourselves on French National TV," Syaoran told his three Angels.

Meiling grinned as Sakura and Tomoyo giggled.

"But down to business. The book of Fei Lao Shi, which you have managed to obtain, is actually part of a series of three. According to legends there were three such books created, the other two is still out there somewhere and my sources tell me that Spinnel Corporation is interested in the other two as well. On the desk in front of you is three red files with the necessary information about each book."

The girls picked up the folders and opened it. They flipped through the pages glancing at the description of each book.

"So where are the other two?" Meiling asked.

"We're not quite sure as of yet. One book hasn't been heard since the collapse of the Ming Dynasty of China and the other has been recently discovered in recent times but its true location has been kept secret to protect the book from thieves."

"So what?" Meiling demanded, "We can't do anything until we find out where the books are?"

"Yes," Syaoran said mildly.

Meiling growled under her breath as Sakura and Tomoyo looked at each other.

"Why do I have the feeling Spinnel Corporation know where the books are?" Tomoyo asked voicing her worries.

"There is nothing we can do about it. I will keep an eye on the Corporation for you girls until I have further information there is nothing we can do."

Sakura nodded slowly.

"I will speak to you later, goodbye Angels."

"Bye Syaoran."

The speaker box went silent as Sakura got up.

"Since there's nothing we can do I'm going home," Sakura told her partners.

Meiling nodded her head.

"I don't like this we have no idea what to do next and Spinnel Corporation is probably a step ahead of us by now," Meiling sighed and got up as well.

Tomoyo nodded.

"Well, what can we do about it?" she asked shrugging.

Sakura and Meiling nodded glumly and left as Tomoyo followed them. Stepping onto the footpath outside each of the girls went their separate ways.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura unlocked her door and sighed wearily before throwing her keys onto the glass table standing in the hallway.

She ran her hands through her hair as she rummaged through the envelopes sitting on her table.

Junk. Junk. Junk. Bills. More junk and...

"What's this?" she frowned seeing a pink envelope.

Sakura frowned at the address and broke the seal on the letter. Taking out a sheet of paper Sakura glanced at its contents.

"Oh my god," she gasped, "I don't believe it."

She stood there staring at the letter in shock for a few minutes but was snapped out of her shocked silence by the sound of her phone ringing. Glancing at the clock, she wondered who would be calling her up so late. It was probably a call from Syaoran telling her to get back to the office.

"Hello?" she asked picking up the phone.

"Sakura, can you pick me up at the airport?"

Sakura gasped.

"Dad?!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo parked her car into her garage and walked into her spacious, luxurious mansion-like house. Sighing gratefully she shrugged off her jacket and put her laptop down onto her table.

Even thought it was a little after eleven, Tomoyo didn't feel the slightest bit tired. Adrenaline still pumped through her veins and she knew even if she did go to bed she would never be able to get to sleep.

With a small smile on her face, Tomoyo went to get changed. She stopped in front of her phone and wondered briefly if she should ring either Meiling or Sakura but decided that it was too late and both girls would have gone to sleep by now.

As she walked down the hallway Tomoyo checked herself out in the mirror hanging on the wall.

"Perfect for a night out," she grinned.

Picking up her keys again she went into the garage and soon drove off.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling dumped her bags down beside her doorway and stifled a yawn as she went into her living room. Even thought she was dog-tired there was something she had to do.

"The book of Fei Lao Shi," she mused as she walked up to the large bookcase standing in front of one of the walls.

She let her hands trail over the spine of the books on her bookcase as she glanced up and down looking through the mess for the book she wanted.

"Here it is," she said taking out an old book written in Chinese.

Undoing the buns on her head, she walked into her bedroom and changed quickly before slipping under the covers. Propping herself up on the pillows she opened the book and began reading about the history of the three ancient books they were trying to find.

But even as Meiling tried to maintain her focus her eyelids began drooping and it wasn't long before she was fast asleep.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Eriol watched from the safety of his car as Tomoyo stepped out from hers. He smiled to himself congratulating himself for being able to tail the girl all the way from her house to here without being spotted.

His eyes looked at her appreciatively liking the way she dressed. The dark blue shirt she wore although it revealed quite a bit it still left a lot to the imagination. The leather pants she wore hugged her tightly revealing nicely developed legs. She wore a little make-up just in enough to highlight all her best features, her lovely lavender-coloured eyes and her delicate cheekbones.

Eriol snarled at himself for getting distracted and checked himself in the mirror. Mentally he reviewed his master plan again, he had to seduce Tomoyo and make her trust him. When she allowed him into her life and home that's when he will strike. He smiled coolly as he thought about the reward he will receive for completing this job.

Putting on his most charming smile he got out of his car and followed Tomoyo into the bar.

Weaving her way through the noisy crowd, Tomoyo made her way to the bar. She sat down on one the stools and flashed the bartender her most charming smile.

"What can I get you, miss?" the bartender smiled at her.

"Orange juice, please," Tomoyo said knowing she had to drive home later.

The bartender nodded and went to get her drink. Tomoyo watched the packed bar as the bartender set her drink down.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone throwing a twenty-dollar note onto the bar.

"I'll pay for her, thanks," a warm male voice said, "And get me a scotch."

The bartender nodded and picked up the note as he went to get the man's drink.

"Thanks," Tomoyo said coolly, "But I really don't nee..."

She stopped and blushed seeing the man's face.

"Fancy seeing you here," the blue-haired man said with a charming grin.

Tomoyo just smiled at him and sipped her drink.

"Tomoyo, isn't it?"

"Yeah and you're Eriol, right?"

Eriol smiled.

"I'm impressed."

The bartender set down his drink as Eriol sat down beside her. They sat in silence for a while before Tomoyo spoke up.

"So what do you do?" she asked glancing up at him.

"I'm a businessmen," Eriol said smoothly, "And you?"

"I'm a designer," Tomoyo said wickedly.

"Do you design your own clothes?" Eriol asked glancing at her shirt.

Tomoyo nodded. There was a silence again.

"So at the risk of sounding like an idiot, care to dance?"

"Why not?" Tomoyo grinned grabbing his hand and yanking him up.

Tomoyo laughed happily as Eriol smiled seeing her so happy. The song ended and a slow, romantic one came up. Tomoyo expertly placed her hands on Eriol's shoulders as he gripped her waist. They swayed to the music and stared at each other's eyes. Almost unknowingly their faces inched closer together.

Suddenly Eriol pulled Tomoyo closer to him and place his lips over hers. Tomoyo hugged his neck tightly as they kissed long and hard.

Tomoyo let out a small sigh as Eriol broke the kiss and stared at her.

"Wow," he murmured.

"What?" Tomoyo asked him with a small smile.

"Nothing."

Before they knew it they were kissing again. Eriol and Tomoyo's eyes were closed as they simply enjoyed the kiss and the emotions swirling in their minds and the feelings in their bodies.

Tomoyo felt as though her body was on fire as Eriol hugged her closer to his body. She hugged him back as she smiled against his lips. Suddenly Eriol's eyes snapped opened and he stared at the beautiful girl standing in front of him and felt his heart skip a beat.

No, this shouldn't be happening. I shouldn't be doing this! his mind screamed at him telling him to stop.

But he merely shut his eyes again and enjoyed the kiss and the emotions he was feeling.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Uh oh... Tomoyo and Eriol kissing? But Eriol is supposed to kill Tomoyo! Somehow I think his plan is backfiring on him big time. But what happens in the end? Will love triumph or will Tomoyo despise him when she finds out the truth? Ahh... suspense don't you love it?

Next chapter:

Sakura is shocked to find her father, Fujitaka, has returned suddenly from his archaeological dig in Tibet. But she is even more stunned when she finds out that Fujitaka knows the location of the second book! How can she get her father to tell her where it is when he has express orders not to tell anyone and how can she tell him she's an Angel? And what is in the content of that strange letter? All this happens in... _Cherry Blossom_.

A/Note: I will refuse to add another chapter until I get ten more reviews (yes, I'm evil!)! Anyway the next few chapters would take a while to put up since school is starting again for me so be patient.

Also in the next chapter, which will probably come out in the next two to three weeks will also include a competition! The winner(s) will have the chance to create a character, which will be included in the story. So keep an eye out for that!


	7. Cherry Blossom

I will not put up another chapter until I have ten more reviews!

Also see the competition I have in my A/Notes section.

AND YES THERE IS GOING TO BE S+S ROMANCE!! but as I mentioned before there is going to be a twist, you'll just have to see... hahahahaha!!

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 6: Cherry Blossom**

The phone dropped out of Sakura's hands as she stared at the receiver in shock.

"Sakura? Sakura?" her father yelled down the phone, "Are you there?"

She shook herself, gathered her wits and picked up the phone again.

"Yeah, dad I'm here," Sakura told him.

"Can you pick me up at the airport?" her father asked, "I'm there right now."

"Dad aren't you suppose to be in Tibet or Mongolia or whatever?" Sakura questioned.

Her father sighed.

"We couldn't dig in the mountains anymore because the land was too unstable and we didn't want to trigger a landslide," he told her, "Now, can you pick me up? Or I can catch a taxi."

Sakura picked up her keys again as she talked.

"No, wait there. I'll be there in half an hour."

"Okay but be careful, see you later my little Cherry Blossom," her father added with a faint trace of amusement in his voice.

"See you later, dad," Sakura said blushing slightly hearing her father use his old nickname for her.

She hung up and sighed before leaving her house again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

As she opened the door Tomoyo began humming a little song to herself, a silly grin plastered over her face. Singing softly to herself she touched her lips and giggled thinking about the kiss.

Still smiling Tomoyo walked into her bedroom and began changing her clothes. Right after the song had finished Eriol had blushed and mumbled something before leaving hurriedly. Tomoyo had tried to stay for a little while longer but once Eriol had left she didn't feel like staying and had quickly left. Tomoyo brushed her hair and blushed as she remembered her reaction to the kiss.

She sighed and knew this was what love felt like. This warm feeling inside her heart, she sat there in a daze as she fantasized about Eriol.

She visualised him in her mind. He was tall and had a really cute smile. He had this strange blue hair that would have looked weird on anybody else but looked perfect on him, his soulful blue eyes lit up like stars when he smiled. A nice muscular body and graceful movements just made him that that much more irresistible.

Tomoyo groaned.

"I've got it bad," she muttered to herself.

She wondered idly what Meiling or Sakura would think of him. She stifled a giggle imaging her friends' reactions.

With that last thought she gave her hair one last brush and went to bed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling yawned and rubbed her eyes wearily. Oh god, what time was it? She glanced at the clock and realised she must have dozed off. Yawning, she picked up the book again and forced herself to read.

"One of the books, the book of the Hong Bao Shi Hu Die (Ruby Butterfly), according to legend was stolen by Mongolian raiders from a temple in China during the Ming Dynasty. The precise whereabouts of this book is unknown but it is still believed to lie somewhere in Mongolia," Meiling read.

She scowled.

"Looks like we're going to Mongolia," she said with a sigh as she continued reading, "the third book, the book of the Yue Gong Jian Shou (Moon Archer) has been lost since the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. Its whereabouts is a mystery even to experts."

Meiling sighed.

"Seems like Syaoran was right... as usual."

She continued reading about the three ancient books until the sweet temptations of dreamland beckoned once more and she once again fell under its spell and was soon fast asleep.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura sighed wearily as she parked her car after what seemed like hours of trying to find a space. Getting out of her car she quickly headed into the airport.

The automatic glass door slid open as Sakura walked in and surveyed the scene that lay in front of her. Even this late at night L.A. International Airport was still a noisy beehive of activity. People, some in noisy groups and some by themselves walk past often dragging heavy suitcases behind them. The P.A. system switched on and cheerfully told them that the non-stop flight to England was now about to touch down. Sakura sighed and looked around hoping to spot her father in the crowd.

"Sakura?" a warm voice said behind her as a hand descended onto her shoulder.

The American Angel tensed as years of training took over, quickly she grabbed the hand and whirled around preparing to throw the man over her shoulders but her emerald eyes widened as she recognised the face and she instantly dropped the hand she was holding.

"Dad!" she cried happily hugging the much taller man.

Fujitaka Kinomoto beamed down at his daughter as he returned the hug.

"How are you, my little Cherry blossom?" he asked using his special nickname for Sakura.

"I'm fine," Sakura took a step back and smiled up at her father, "How was the dig?"

Fujitaka knelt to pick up his bulging bag but was stopped as Sakura gripped his arm gently.

"I'll get it," she said cheerfully.

Her father opened his mouth to tell her it was too heavy but stopped as Sakura easily picked up the bag and grinned at him.

"So how was it?"

Fujitaka smiled seeing his little girl all grown up and sighed wistfully wondering how fast time had gone past.

"It was extremely productive. We managed to find many interesting artefacts."

Sakura's ear pricked up hearing the word artefact. She put on her sweetest smile and blasted her father with its full effect.

"Artefacts? What kind of artefacts?" she asked still beaming at him.

Fujitaka laughed.

"Why are you suddenly so interested?" he asked as they walked back to Sakura's car.

"What can't I be interested in my father's work?" Sakura asked innocently.

"Well, we did find some extremely rare and strange artefacts but I really can't say anymore," Fujitaka said studying his daughter's face.

"Ooo... what's with the secrecy?" Sakura asked genuinely curious.

"Like I said one of these artefacts are extremely rare. One of a kind items, we're afraid if the location of the artefacts are revealed than thieves will go after them."

"Why don't you put them into a museum or something?" Sakura asked sensibly.

Fujitaka shook his head.

"Museums aren't that safe. Remember the one in Pairs?"

Sakura looked down uncomfortably and resisted the urge to blush as Fujitaka continued.

"And there is more work that needs to be done before we even consider removing them from the site," Fujitaka grinned at her, "So sorry but I can't say anything. Express orders from the governments."

"The governments are involved?" Sakura asked shocked, "Wow, this is big."

"The biggest find of the century," Fujitaka smiled as his eyes took on a dazed look, "And I was there to witness it."

His eyes returned to normal as he looked at his daughter curiously.

"So why did you wanted to know?" he asked.

Sakura shrugged.

"Curious I guess but I better not ask any more questions because you have orders not to say anything to anybody," Sakura grinned, "Sounds like you're a secret agent or something."

Fujitaka laughed as they reached the car and Sakura opened the trunk and began piling the bags in.

"Don't be silly. There are no such things as secret agents."

Sakura smiled faintly.

"Yeah, no such things," she echoed.

Fujitaka got into the passenger seat as Sakura got into the car and drove off. Father and daughter chatted about random things catching up with each other but during a lull in the conversation Sakura smiled grimly looking out of the windshield. Her father may have just found one of the books they were after but she had to be sure if books were among the collection of 'extremely rare artefacts'. She needed evidence.

But how could she get her hands on some?

Sakura continued staring out the window as plans ran through her head.

All she needed was the perfect opportunity.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Rika studied the woman in front of her with blank, dead eyes. Lilia shuddered but beat back her fear and handed the woman her clawed leather gloves and a new photo.

"Our sources tell us that the girls are currently split up. They are more vulnerable now. We advise you to go after them now whilst they are separated," Lilia intrusted, "the photo shows one of the girl's houses and the address is on the back."

Rika turned the photo over slowly and read the address. She slipped on her gloves and looked at Lilia squarely in the eyes, sensing the fear dwelling within the other woman Rika blinked slowly.

"We'll drive you there," Lilia offered.

The assassin nodded ever so slightly and they were on their way.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo sat up and blinked trying to clear her blurred vision and wondered what had woken her up.

Looking around the dark room in confusion, she got up and slipped on her robe and padded into the hallway.

"Tik, tik, tik..." the ominous sound repeated itself over and over again as Tomoyo stiffened and training took over.

Stealthily she made her way to where she thought the sound came from, coming in front of the close she hesitated slightly before shifting into a fighter's stance.

"HIYA!" with one swift kick she kicked the door open and leapt into the room prepared to do battle with whoever was creating that noise.

Silence then...

"Tik, tik, tik..."

Tomoyo laughed at herself as she spotted the source of the noise.

"Jeez, I'm jumpy," she smiled softly to herself as she crossed the room and closed the tap. One final drop of water fell from the tap and hit the basin making one final 'tik' before all was silent.

Tomoyo was about to go back to bed before she realised just how hungry she was. Running her hands through her mused hair Tomoyo walked into her kitchen and opened her fridge. Getting out a container of leftovers from god knows when. She shoved it into the microwave and looked out from the kitchen window into the dark, shadowy night as she waited for the microwave to finish.

Suddenly a black shadow leapt out from the darkness as Tomoyo screamed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling sat up suddenly.

"Wha... what?" she mumbled sleepily.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around. She must have fallen asleep again. Looking down at her lap and seeing the book she had been reading, Meiling smiled.

"May as well put this back," she said as she got up and walked out of the room.

The book Meiling had been reading had been ancient even her grandmother didn't know when or where her family had first got it. All she knew was that it had been passed down through the family for generations and Meiling certainly didn't want to ruin it even though the possibility of her getting married and having kids at this point was somewhere between zero and negative a zillion.

Musing over the sad state of her love life Meiling walked into her living room. Carefully putting the book back into the bookshelf, she turned around to go back to her bedroom. Walking past one of the windows she stopped and looked outside admiring her garden in the moonlight.

That's when it happened. Suddenly a dark shape leapt out from the shadows.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo stopped screaming and smiled at herself.

"I'm really, really jumpy," she announced slightly embarrassed over her own foolishness.

A black cat pounced onto the windowsill and looked into the kitchen through the glass and meowed softly before jumping off and disappearing into the night once more. Tomoyo shook her head and turned around as the microwave announced the end of its reheating with a loud ding.

After burning her fingers on the hot plastic, Tomoyo yanked the container out and sat down at her dining table as she began eating and wondering what the other girls were doing.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"CRASH!!"

Shattered chips of glass rained down onto the carpeted floor as a dark shape leapt through the window and tackled Meiling to the ground. Meiling kicked the person off her and leapt up.

"RIKA?!" she gasped seeing the dead-eyed assassin.

Rika responded by lunged at her trying to impale Meiling with her claws. The Asian Angel leapt to the side and kicked Rika in the ribs before following up with a quick rabbit punch to the chest. Rika staggered backwards but recovered quickly countering with a few quick slashes. Meiling managed to dodge all of them but she stumbled back slightly as she leapt back to avoid the last swipe. Her clumsiness was rewarded with a long cut across her arm.

Meiling bit down onto her lip to stop her yelp of pain and grimly fought on grabbing the assassin's wrist and slammed her elbow into the woman's face.

Rika's head snapped back but if she was feeling any way it didn't show over her face. She stared at Meiling with her creepy empty eyes and slashed at her again. Meiling ducked the swipe and uppercut her in the jaw. She followed up with a quick legs sweep before leaping up. She was now breathing heavily but she ignored her exhaustion instead she kept her ruby-red eyes trained on her opponent.

Rika slowly got up and wiped the blood from her mouth. Slowly she shifted into a fighter's stance, her claws pointed directly at Meiling.

Both fighters lunged at each other, their fists and kick a quick series of blurs. Such was their speed, Meiling grabbed one of Rika's feet as she tried to kick her and flipped her onto her back.

Rika landed heavily as Meiling leapt over the fallen woman and sprinted into her bedroom, behind her she could hear Rika slowly getting up and the broken glass chips crunching under the assassin's feet as she pursued her.

Meiling raced through her open bedroom door and immediately flew to her still unpacked bags, which was from her trip to Paris, lying on the ground. She quickly grabbed one of the smaller bags and ripped the zip open.

"Come and get me now, Rika," she taunted as she grabbed something from within and held it out in front of her.

Rika appeared at the doorway and merely blinked seeing the long sword Meiling held in her hands. Meiling grinned as she wielded the sword she had stolen from the Paris museum.

"Come on kitty cat," Meiling smirked.

She lunged forwards twirling the sword around in her hands. Rika tried to stab her with her claws but the metal blade deflected the claws as Meiling gloated.

"Not so tough are you?"

Rika blinked at her again and whirled around and ran off back into the darkness.

"Come back here!" Meiling yelled taking chase.

Rika was almost at the broken window again when Meiling hurled the sword at her. The blade twirled through the air as Rika turned around and blinked. She slapped the sword away with her claws but wasn't quick enough to fend off the next attack.

Meiling lunged at her and grabbed the assassin's arm. With a yell, she hurled the assassin into the wall and smirked as Rika went sailing through the broken window. She landed outside in the garden and landed heavily but managed to get up but she was now limping.

Meiling leapt through the window and took up a fighter's stance her expertly trained eyes analysing Rika's movements.

"How did you know I lived here?" she asked.

Silence.

"TELL ME!" Meiling thundered.

Rika remained silent.

"Damn it! Tell me!" Meiling was about to lunge at Rika again when the sound of a car's horn honking made her look out towards the road.

"What the?" Meiling gasped seeing a familiar red car.

The red car had tinted windows and as far as Meiling could see no number plates.

"That car..." she murmured remembering back to the day when another assassin had tried to kill them at Mandy's.

By the time she thought to look back at Rika, the assassin was gone. Meiling immediately began looking around at the shadows trying to figure out where the assassin had gone. But she was nowhere in sight.

"What the..."

A sudden flash of light caught her eyes as training took over. She leapt into the air and straightened her legs allowing the bottom of her feet to smack into the wall behind her. Pushing off from the wall, Meiling landed onto the lawn and immediately went into a roll. She leapt up and took up a stance as she stared at the thing embedded into the dirt before her.

It was a golden dart.

"Son of a..."

The sound of an engine starting made her look away as the red car suddenly screeched down the street and turned a corner disappearing out of sight.

Meiling slowly got up and stared at the dart in shock.

"Sakura... Tomoyo..."

They could be in danger as well.

The Asian Angel was suddenly extremely worried.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"So my Cherry Blossom," her father said, "How are your studies?"

Sakura froze for a moment wondering what he meant before remembering he thought she was still studying in college instead of travelling around the world as an Angel. She smiled weakly and came up with a quick lie.

"It's going okay," she replied as she opened the door to her apartment.

Hoping desperately she had remembered to put away any pieces of evidence that may give away her identity as an Angel, Sakura flipped on the lights and glanced quickly around the room.

Nothing.

Thank god.

Sakura sighed in relief and turned around to beam at her father.

"Yeah, it's going fine," she said letting him in.

Fujitaka smiled at his daughter as he glanced at the room.

"So this is where my little Cherry Blossom lives," he mused, "I thought it would be a lot messier."

"I'm not messy!" Sakura retorted half-laughing.

Fujitaka laughed.

"You're right, you're not. Even as a child you were very organized and neat," he smiled wistfully as he thought back to those days but he quickly focuses on his little girl again, "So where do I sleep?"

"The guest room I guess," Sakura said walking over to one of the doors, "Here."

She pushed open to the door to reveal a cream-coloured room with a neatly made bed, a set of drawers and a small table and chair. There was also a window set in one of the walls, which looked out into the night sky outside.

"The bathroom is over there," Sakura said pointing to one of the rooms.  
"Good, I want to have a shower," Fujitaka immediately went over to the bed and dumped his bag onto the mattress. He rummaged around inside and grabbed a change clothes, "Don't worry about me, I wouldn't even be around for that long maybe around a month if I'm lucky. I've just got to go the museum and show my colleagues a few photos and a few other things and then I'm heading out to another dig."

Sakura nodded.

"You can't stay for longer?"

"Sorry, but I can't."

"It's okay," Sakura said flashing him a fake grin.

She left her father alone in the bedroom and sighed thinking about how even during her childhood her father had always been away to one dig or another. It had been a very lonely childhood especially since her mother had died when she had been only three. Sakura bit down onto her lip and shook away those memories instead concentrating on the task at hand.

She went into her kitchen and rummaged around in the drawers pretending she was doing something until she heard the bathroom door close followed by the sound of the shower being turned on.

Immediately she ran into the guest room and spotted her father's bags lying on the bed. She immediately went to one of the small suitcases and zipped it open and searched inside.

Clothes...

Clothes...

Clothes...

Aha!

A small yellow folder was nestled amongst her father's clothing. Sakura picked it up and examined it for clues for what was inside. Seeing nothing on it, Sakura opened it gingerly and grinned as a stack of photos rained down from the folder. Sakura dropped the folder and immediately picked up the photos. She quickly flipped through all of it and gasped seeing pictures of the archaeological dig.

Halfway through the stack she began seeing pictures of the artefacts found at the dig. Swords... statues... ancient scraps of scrolls and books... urns and vases...

"Oh my god," Sakura gasped.

She held up a photo. The photo showed something extremely familiar. A dark violet book with bronze coloured metal embedded into the cover stared up at her as Sakura examined it closely. The metal strips had been skilfully crafted to form into the shape of a butterfly with gems of every description and size making up the inside of the wings. Beneath the butterfly was a strip of metal and on it strange words were crafted.

It looked exactly like the book Sakura had stolen from Paris only this had been find in...

Sakura blinked and searched the photos frantically for any clue of where these artefacts had been dig up. Nothing. Not even a single clue.

"Damn it," Sakura whispered.

She stopped as she heard the shower being closed. The sound of water beating down onto the bathtub stopped as Sakura hastily jammed the rest of the photos back into the folder and hid it again amongst the clothing. She quickly zipped up the suitcase and checked quickly to see if anything was out of place. Satisfied that every looked like it hadn't been touched, Sakura ran out of the room, slipping the photo of the book into her pocket and headed back to the kitchen.

"Hey Dad," Sakura called as the bathroom door opened.

"Yes?" her father asked as he dried his hair with a towel.

"Want something to eat?"

"I'm fine thanks," he replied.

He walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table watching his daughter as she rummaged around in the fridge.

"What's this," he asked holding up a pink envelope.

Sakura froze.

"Nothing," she squeaked.

"This is from your old school," he said peering at the address, "To Cherry Blossom."

He looked up at her frowning.

"That was the name I use in school," Sakura said blushing slightly, "I thought the name Sakura Kinomoto has too weird so I picked another."

Fujitaka nodded and took out the letter.

"This is an invitation to your high school reunion," he said reading the letter quickly, "Are you going?"

Sakura shook her head.

"I'm too busy and it's only a week away I don't have enough time to get a dress or a date."

"A beautiful girl like you shouldn't have a problem getting a date," Fujitaka grinned at his daughter proudly.

Sakura blushed even more and shook her head.

"I don't want to go."

"Don't you want to see your old friends again?"

Sakura nodded slowly.

"But..."

"Then you should go."

Sakura opened her mouth to argue but was stopped as her doorbell rang.

"Who is that?" she wondered.

She glanced at the clock.

"It's about three in the morning. Who can it be?" she muttered to herself as she went to her front door and opened it.

Meiling stood there looking as though she had just woken up.

"Meiling!? What is it?"

"Rika," Meiling said scowling fiercely.

"Rika?!"

"Who's Rika?"

Sakura turned around to look at her dad who was standing just behind her.

"Who's Rika?" he repeated.

Sakura stared at him speechless trying to think up of a lie.

"Who is Rika?"

Damn it

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Oooo... Fujitaka doesn't know Sakura is an Angel and Sakura doesn't know how to tell him. Worse he knows where the second book is, how is this going to turn out? You'll just have to wait and find out.

Next chapter:

How on earth will Sakura keep her secret from her father as both Tomoyo and Meiling move to Sakura's house to avoid further attacks from Rika? But things get complicated when Syaoran has a new mission for them. What is that mission? And will the mysterious location of the second book be revealed? Find out in... _Caution: Angels at work_.

A/Note: In case you haven't noticed even the names of the three ancient book are linked with CCS. Did you pick it up? If you now which names the three book names represent (clue: they're all magical guardians) e-mail me the answer at (please put your title as 'Syaoran's Angels Competition'). DON'T PUT YOUR ANSWER ON YOUR REVIEW!

The first three people with the correct answers will have the privilege (stardragon: yeah right) of having a character of their invention (within reason of course) being in the story!

The books' names are:

The book of the Fei Lao Shi (translation: Flying Lion)

The book of the Hong Bao Shi Hu Die (translation: Ruby Butterfly)

The book of the Yue Gong Jian Shou (translation: Moon Archer)

E-mail me!


	8. Caution: Angels at work

Here you go! The next chapter of Syaoran's Angels! I will not update again until I have 15 more reviews (yes, I'm making it more than usual). THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Thank for all the wonderful reviews you have given me! I appreciate it very much!

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 7: Caution: Angels at work**

"Who is Rika?"

Damn it

"Umm..." Sakura began trying to stall for time whilst she tried to think up of a convincing lie.

Meiling blinked at the man staring behind Sakura and looked at her friend.

"Who is he?" she murmured softly.

"Father," Sakura replied just as quietly.

"Oh."

"Who's Rika?" Fujitaka repeated again.

"Umm... it's a school," Sakura said hurriedly.

"A school?"

"Yeah, R.I.K.A. it stands for Russian Institute of Korean Architecture," Sakura grinned at him as she mentally kicked herself for coming up with such a stupid name.

"Korean Architecture? Why would the school by in Russia?"

There was a pause of Meiling and Sakura looked at each other.

"It used to be in Korea but there wasn't enough students but there were a lot of interests in Korean Architecture in Russia so the school moved," Meiling said quickly.

Fujitaka nodded.  
"What a strange school... I've never heard of it," he mused.

"Yeah, it is very isolated from other schools and very selective," Meiling added.

Fujitaka nodded as Sakura turned to Meiling.

"What happened?" she asked staring at Meiling pointedly.

"Oh yeah, some R.I.K.A. students came to my house and wants to change the decoration so it can have a Korean theme but luckily I escaped," Meiling replied veiling her answer behind a lie, "So can I stay here until I'm sure that R.I.K.A. is gone?"

"Rika came to your house?" Sakura blanched.

Meiling nodded.

"Umm... dad I have to go over to my friend's house for a little while," Sakura told him, "Is that okay with you?"

"Sakura you're a big girl now you don't have to check with me," Fujitaka answered with a small smile, "Have fun."

Sakura flashed him a fake grin and grabbed her keys before leaving her apartment with Meiling. She closed the door behind her and they began walking down to her apartment's garage.

"Tomoyo," she whispered.

Meiling nodded.

"We have to get to her before Rika does."

Sakura fished out her mobile phone, as Meiling remained silent lost in her own thoughts. She punched a series of numbers in and waited.

"Tomoyo?"

_'Yeah?' _Tomoyo sounded like she had just woken up, _'Do you have any idea what time it is?'_

"Sorry but Rika is on the loose. She tried to take out Meiling before."

_'Is she okay?'_ Tomoyo asked worried.

"Yeah, she's with me. Listen Tomoyo stay alert we're coming over to your house then we'll decide what to do."

_'Okay, be careful.'_

"You too."

Tomoyo hung up as Sakura slipped the phone back into her pocket and turned to Meiling.

"She knows."

"Good, and after we get we'll start working on a plan to take down Rika."

"No, we got other things to deal with."

"What?"

"The second book."

Meiling gaped at her. Sakura smiled as they reached the garage.

"Let's roll."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

An hour later, Tomoyo sat down onto Sakura's couch as Meiling leaned back against one of the walls frowning. Sakura opened the guest room door slightly and saw that her father was sleeping, his glasses lying on the table beside the bed. She smiled and closed the door.

"He's asleep," she announced.

"Rika. How did she get out of jail?" Meiling growled.

Tomoyo didn't answer her instead she plugged her laptop into the power socket. The computer genius immediately got to work hacking away at the police files. Five minutes she had an answer.

"Rika was apparently released from jail and admitted into a mental asylum," Tomoyo read, "She was released just a few hours ago."

"She escaped," Sakura murmured.

"Or the mental asylum never existed, it could have been just one big lie made up by Spinnel Corporation."

The girls were silent as they digested that piece of information. Tomoyo began typing again and after a few tense minutes she sighed.

"The mental asylum Rika was supposedly sent to doesn't exist. It's a fake."

Meiling gritted her teeth.

"Just how powerful is Spinnel Corporation?" she demanded, "They must have bribed at least a dozen officials to get Rika out."

There was a few minutes of silence then Tomoyo spoke again.

"Sakura, what do you know about the second book?" she asked.

Sakura looked nervously at the closed guest door and lowered her voice as she slipped the photo out from her pocket. She threw it onto the table in front of Tomoyo and explained as the lavender-haired Angel examined the picture.

"That is a photo from my dad's latest archaeological dig. I don't know where it is from and my dad has orders from the government not to tell," she explained as Tomoyo passed the photo to Meiling.

"The book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die," Meiling murmured, "The book of the Ruby Butterfly."

"Why don't you tell your dad what's going on?" Tomoyo suggested.

"NO!" Sakura glanced at the door and lowered her voice, "No. I can't. My dad doesn't know I'm an Angel."

"WHAT?"

Sakura glared at them and they lowered their voice.

"You have to," Meiling urged her, "He'll find out anyway."

"Sakura. We do need to know where the book is."

"I'm sorry... I just can't," Sakura said miserably.

Meiling and Tomoyo exchanged looks as Sakura fidgeted nervously.

"I'm sorry," she repeated again.

"Doesn't matter," Meiling handed the photo back to her, "We'll report in to Syaoran tomorrow and we'll think of something then."

"I guess the both of you will be staying here?"

Tomoyo and Meiling nodded.

"I'll find somewhere for you to sleep," Sakura said as Tomoyo got up.

The three Angels spent a sleepless night. Meiling's dreams were plagued by a clawed shadow menace that attacked her repeatedly within her dreams and no matter what she did the clawed shadow always defeated her.

Sakura tossed and turned worrying over how her dad would react to finding out she was an Angel and worried her friends thought she was a coward for not telling him.

And Tomoyo's dreams were filled with a certain blue-haired gentleman...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Good morning Angels," Syaoran said over the speaker box.

"Good morning Syaoran," Tomoyo said cheerfully.

"Morning," Meiling and Sakura muttered.

"What's wrong?" Syaoran asked concern.

"Rika, she's back and she tried to attack me in my home," Meiling spat.

"Rika is out of jail? Spinnel Corporation must have some very powerful connections then," Syaoran went silent, "girls I want you to be extremely careful and alert. I'll have a look in that situation but what I really want to..."

"I know where the second book is," Sakura said suddenly.

There was a slight pause.

"You do?" Syaoran asked.

"Not really. My dad is an archaeologist and I found a photo of the second book amongst other photos of things he find at his latest dig," Sakura explained.

"Can you find out where the dig is?"

"No," Sakura admitted reluctantly, "My dad has orders from the government not to tell but he doesn't know I'm an Angel..."

"Shouldn't you tell him? He does have a right to know."

Sakura remained silent as Tomoyo and Meiling patted her knees sympathetically, they smiled at her showing her that they supported her. Sakura smiled back at them and felt comforted by the fact that the girls would stand by her no matter what.

"You have made your decision, very well. But please try to find out," Syaoran stopped, "What I really want to tell you girls is that you have a new mission."

"A mission?" Meiling blinked.

"Where?"

"When?"

The wooden panels on the walls slid down revealing a large TV screen, the girls quietened down as pictures began appearing.

"This is Marcus Faron," Syaoran announced as a picture of a man appeared onto the screen, "he was a lawyer and used to work for Crell's Partners, a law firm in Boston."

"Crell's..." Tomoyo murmured, "Wasn't that the law firm that was sued for corruption?"

"Corruption?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, their lawyers usually represented criminal leaders and gang members. They were apparently ruthless, threatening their rival lawyers and bribing and blackmailing the juries and judges. About a year ago they were busted and the firm was sued," Tomoyo explained.

"Yes, that is what happened and Marcus was the one who exposed his law firm's crimes," Syaoran told them girls, "Ever since then Marcus has been the target of many assassinations attempts. It came to the point that Marcus and his daughter had to enter the Witness Protection Program and was sent off to Australia. A few weeks ago, his daughter was kidnapped and held for ransom. The money is to be delivered in a few days time on the Gold Coast in Australia."

"Gold Coast?" Sakura's ear pricked up, "Ooo... beaches."

Meiling grinned at her as Tomoyo rolled her eyes.

"This is not holiday Angels, this is serious. There seems to be no apparent motive behind the kidnapping but I believe it is just one giant ploy to lure Marcus out of hiding and kill him. Your mission is to make sure the daughter gets back to Marcus safely and they both survive."

"Seems easy enough," Meiling said confidently.

"And it gets us out of Rika's way for a few days," Tomoyo said thoughtfully.

Sakura nodded.

"Yeah and I've got an excuse not to go to my reunion..." Sakura smiled nervously as both Meiling and Tomoyo stared at her.

"You've got a school reunion?" Meiling demanded.

"That's cool!" Tomoyo squealed.

Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably.

"But I don't want to go..." she began.

"You have to," Meiling told her, "This is your chance to upstage all those blonde airhead cheerleaders who tormented you through school and make them look bad."

"Angels," Syaoran interrupted, "You will leave tonight for Australia. Once you're there you'll meet one of my spies. His name is Derrick. He will tell you the precise location of where the exchange is being made. You got that?"

"Yes, Syaoran," the girls chorused.

"Very well then. Goodbye Angels."

"Goodbye!"

The speaker box turned off as the wooden panels slid up to hide the TV screen. Sakura wished she could disappear as well as both her friends turned on her.

"Come on Sakura. You have to go, it will be fun for you."

"But... but... but..."

"But what?" Meiling demanded.

"Iwasatotalgeekatschool!"

Tomoyo blinked as she slowly deciphered Sakura's sentence.

"You were a geek?"

"Yes! A total klutz and a teacher's pet! I was the most unpopular girl at school!" Sakura blurted out.

"Well, then you have even more reasons to go then," Tomoyo smiled in satisfaction.

Sakura stared at her.

"What?"

"Oh come on Sakura. You may have been a klutz then but now you're a kick-ass fighter with a body to die for!" Meiling scoffed, "This is your one big chance to show your old classmates how much you've changed."

Sakura stopped and thought about it for a moment.

"You're right. I'm going!"

Sakura grinned devilishly and imagined with relish the stunned looks she would receive when she showed them how much she'd changed.

This is going to fun!

But there was still the pesky problem of not having a boyfriend...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling stretched wearily wincing as all the stiff muscles in her body protested again her movements.

"Ouch and ouch," she groaned.

Tomoyo did up her hair into a ponytail as the harsh Australian sun beat down onto the Angels through the windows of the airport.

"I'm looking forward to having a tan," she mused as Sakura echoed the same sentiments.

"So where is this Derrick?" Meiling asked getting down to business.

The Angels blinked at each other and looked around seeing the giant hive of activity that surrounded them. It was impossible to find anyone is this giant crowd.

"Oh boy..." Sakura muttered.

Tomoyo looked around carefully before turning back to one of the girls.

"Do we have any idea what Derrick look like?"

The Angels stared at each other.

"Just great... just great..." Meiling growled.

"Angels?" a strange voice asked behind them.

The three girls whirled around to stare at the newcomer. He was slightly taller than Meiling with pale blue eyes the colour of the afternoon sky. He has a pleasant smile on his face as he ran his hair through his blonde-brown hair subtly showing off his muscular arms. The Angels stared at him as he moved towards them.

"Hi, I'm Derrick and you must be the Angels," he said holding his hand out in front of him.

"Hello Derrick. Nice to meet you," Tomoyo said politely clasping his hand lightly.

Sakura and Meiling made similar gestures of greeting before getting down to business.

"So where is the exchange going to take place?" Meiling asked hefting her bags onto her shoulders.

"And when?" Sakura asked.

Derrick grinned at them amusement dancing in his eyes.

"All work and no play make Angels dull girls?" he laughed, his voice was warm and musical, "The exchange is to take place later tonight giving you a chance to stakeout that place beforehand."

"Is this place isolated?" Tomoyo asked.

Derrick nodded.

Tomoyo snorted.

"Typical..." she muttered.

The Angels plus Derrick continued to make their way through the bustling crowd as they discussed the events leading up to this point. Derrick had revealed that several threats had been made again Marcus Flaron prior to his daughter's kidnapping. She had been missing for around a month now and a tape had been sent to Marcus giving him instructions on what to do if he wanted to get his daughter back.

"You have to get her back," Derrick told them looking at them with his pale blue eyes, "She's only five years old and she is probably terrified."

Meiling smiled grimly.

"We'll deal with them."

Sakura and Tomoyo nodded silently as they seethed inwardly at anybody who dared harm an innocent little girl. Meiling smiled devilishly and thought with relish of what she would do to those kidnappers. Derrick nodded and continued talking.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo and Sakura sat in a battered old van parked across the street from the gloomy warehouse in which the exchange was to take place. Tomoyo carefully studied the abandoned building with her binoculars looking for any windows or doors. Sakura took note of their surroundings, which was a narrow strip of road bordered by two rows of old and dilapidated warehouses. One warehouse was little more than a blacken shell ravaged by fire, Sakura shuddered seeing the black skeletal structure of the building and turned her eyes up to the roofs of the warehouses.

"Those roofs would be a good place to set up a sniper," Sakura murmured.

Tomoyo nodded as she put down her binoculars.

"I don't like this, this place is a trap," she told Sakura.

Sakura nodded agreeing with her partner. This whole block of warehouses was built over the sparling sapphire ocean on a giant wooden pier. Even as they spoke the Australian sun beat down onto the area casting eerie shadows all over the lonely streets and warehouses.

"This is creepy..." Sakura murmured, "Like a ghost town or something."

Tomoyo nodded.

"Derrick was right this is isolated."

Sakura remained silent lost in her thoughts.

"Hey," she said suddenly, "This has been bugging me all morning, I have this strange feeling I've seen Derrick around somewhere."

Tomoyo turned to stare at Sakura.

"Seen Derrick somewhere?" she echoed, "Are you sure? I'm pretty sure we've never met him before."

Sakura shrugged feeling sheepish.

"I don't know just a feeling it's probably nothing."

Meiling casually strolled out of the warehouse closely followed by Derrick. Spotting them she walked towards the van as Tomoyo rolled down the window.

"What's it like?" Tomoyo asked.

Meiling looked at them, ruby eyes worried.

"A death trap. There's these wooden crates everywhere, perfect for hidden people and the pier this whole place is built on? One good explosion would send this whole block of warehouses tumbling into the sea," Meiling said grimly.

Derrick nodded.

"I have a bad feeling about this as well," he added.

Sakura studied the warehouse and felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. There was this vibe of wrongness practically radiating out from this warehouse. This place was trouble she just knew it.

"Should we take out the kidnappers before Marcus Flareon gets here or after?" she asked.

Tomoyo exchanged looks with Meiling.

"If the girl is there, we'll take them out before if not we'll wait and see," Tomoyo decided.

Meiling nodded agreeing with the plan.

"We'll just see how this goes," she said grimly.

The Angels fell silent as they looked at the warehouse once more. Meiling felt furious against the kidnappers for daring to harm an innocent little girl, she scrunched up her fist and resisted the urge to punch the van.

Tomoyo studied Meiling's face and empathised with her friend, her lavender eyes turned a steely grey as she gritted her teeth. Sakura was sneaking glances at Derrick wondering where she had seen him before. She knew she had seen him somewhere before, she was sure of it.

But where?

Her gut told her something was wrong.

Derrick caught her looking at him and grinned at her flirtatiously

Sakura resolved to keep a careful eye on Derrick.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

In the darkness of the van, four numbers, two letters and two dots glowed brightly as the owner of the watch looked at it for perhaps the thousandth time.

22:58pm

Another minute passed.

22:59pm

Time seemed to come to a grinding halt as each second went by slowly.

22:59:58pm

22:59:59pm

23:00pm

Finally...

Tomoyo carefully opened the door to the van and slipped out her black clothing immediately blending into the night.

"Meiling, Sakura move to your positions," Tomoyo said into the mini-microphone that dangled down from the headphones she wore, "Its Showtime!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Perched on top of one of the roofs next to the warehouse, Meiling revved up her motorbike engine in anticipation.

Sakura stood in front of the backdoor of the warehouse and waited clenching and unclenching her fist.

_'It's Showtime!'_

The Angels moved as one.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Here we go!" Meiling yelled yanking down the visor of her helmet.

She let out a fierce warcry and gunned the engine. She raced across the roof surface and smiled seeing the edge of the roof come racing towards her.

"OH YEAH!" she cried as she shot over the edge.

She aimed her bike down and grinned devilishly seeing the rooftop window. With a resounding crash, the bike punched through the machine as Meiling clung on. Seeing the ground rush towards her, Meiling let go of the motorbike.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura kicked open the door and walked in keeping her senses alert readying herself for an attack.

Nothing.

She blinked but shrugged before racing down the dimly lit hallway and coming into the main room of the warehouse.

Above her the skylight shattered.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo cautiously opened the front door half expecting someone to start yelling and shooting. Hearing nothing, she slipped in carefully closing the door behind her.

Tomoyo studied the main room of the warehouse and smiled seeing Sakura was already there.

The sound of smashing glass followed.

Meiling let go of her motorbike and leapt off. The bike hit the ground followed by a shower of jagged shards of glass. Meiling landed onto the ground expertly bending her knees to absorb the pressure.

She stood up and turned to see both Sakura and Tomoyo had already arrived. Meiling's dramatic entrance was designed to distract their enemies as Sakura and Tomoyo attacked but she stopped seeing the warehouse was empty.

"What the?" she gasped.

She glanced around the room and blinked in surprise seeing a piece of canvas lying in the middle of the room.

"Careful," Tomoyo called studying the room with her lavender eyes.

Sakura felt the hair on the back of her neck raise again as she growled under her breath.

"Trap," she murmured.

Meiling walked up to the canvas and frowned seeing something was lying under it. Kneeling down she gingerly uncovered the canvas and paled seeing what was underneath it.

"Oh my..." she gasped.

Sakura and Tomoyo ran to her side instantly as Meiling peeled back the canvas. Derrick's blank glassy eyes stared up at them, his mouth opened in a small circle of shock as Meiling grimaced seeing the giant bullet hole in his chest.

"The enemy find him," Tomoyo murmured, "Damn it."

"No, it can't be," Sakura knelt down and studied the body closely, "the blood is already dry, this body has been dead for a day or more."

She stopped realising the meaning of her words. She studied him closer and saw the differences from the Derrick they had seen. This man lying dead on the ground was shorter and had emerald eyes instead of blue. His hair was also lighter.

"But we saw Derrick this morning..." Tomoyo began.

"Van. Now!" Meiling yelled realising this was a trap.

All three Angels sprinted out of the warehouse and scrambled into the van. Tomoyo jammed the keys into the keyhole and started the engine.

"What's that sound?" Sakura murmured.

They fell silent as they listened carefully.

"Thwup! Thwup! Thwup!" the sound was getting louder.

"What the hell?" Meiling growled.

All the girls winced as light flooded the area, the sound got louder as Tomoyo looked outside.

"Helicopter!" she yelled.

Sakura and Meiling looked to the right up into the night sky and saw the source of the sound and light.

A black helicopter hovered just above the pier, its spotlight glaring right at them.

"What the hell?" Meiling swore violently.

Tomoyo and Sakura glanced at each other with worried eyes.

"No need for the swearing," a familiar voice murmured.

They turned to their left and stared at the warehouse or more precisely the man standing in front of the warehouse.

"Derrick?" Sakura murmured seeing the pale blue-eyed man, "bu... but... how?"

"Derrick!? Aren't you dead?" Meiling demanded trying to figure out what was going on.

"Please girls, call me by my real name," 'Derrick' said with a smirk on his face.

"Call me Hayden."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

CLIFFHANGER!! The real Derrick was killed before the Angels arrived in Australia and Hayden from Spinnel's Corporation disguised himself as Derrick to lure them into a trap! How are the Angels going to get out of this one? What will happen?

Next chapter:

The Angels have been cornered by the archenemies, Spinnel Corporation and there seems to be no way out. How will they defeat the combined power of Hayden and Lilia and still rescue Marcus Flaron and his daughter? Find out the next in... _Showdown_

A/Note: Thank you once again for your reviews and for everybody who joined the competition and did the right thing in e-mailing me. THANKS! Some of the winners have been decided but I may have more winners maybe up to 6 or more. Maybe...

Anyway, thanks to Corrine for your constructive criticism. My French is not perfect but you have pointed out my mistakes possibly helping me past my next French test at school! Thank you! And thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! Please keeping reviewing!


	9. Showdown

Well, here it is a new chapter and this chapter will not only contain the beginnings of Meiling/OC but also the first character created by a winner of the Syaoran's Angels competition!! Now you know what to do after reading the chapter... review! The more reviews I receive the faster I type!

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 8: Showdown**

"Please girls, call me by my real name," 'Derrick' said with a smirk on his face.

"Call me Hayden."

Silence reigned within the battered old van.

"Who?" Meiling asked extremely puzzled.

Hayden's smirk fell as Sakura frowned trying to work out where she had seen this man before. But the answer to that particular question remained a mystery to her.

"I'm the man who you 'Angels' stole that disk from," he snarled.

Sakura blinked as his words stirred up memories. It was inside the Spinnel Corporation building... Tomoyo had just triggered the fire alarm. She was fighting... fighting with a man for the disk.

That man was...

"It was you," she whispered, "It was you. I stole that disk from you! You were the man working for Spinnel Corporation!"

"Finally," Hayden sneered, "You finally figured it out."

Sakura glared at the man and balled her hands into a fist.

"Yeah and now you'll pay," she spat.

"Maybe... maybe not," Hayden suddenly grinned, "Who am I kidding? You Angels are literally become angels in a few minutes."

"How did you know we were here?" Sakura demanded.

"Easy, we bugged your headquarters."

Tomoyo glanced up at the black helicopter, which still hovered over the pier, its spotlight shining right at them. As Sakura continued to trade barbs with Hayden, Tomoyo's hand slowly moved down to the van's handbrake and released the brakes on the van's wheels. She slammed her foot down onto the brake and waited with bated breath watching Hayden and the helicopter carefully.

Meiling sighed.

"We really don't have time for this, we've still got a little girl to save," she reminded Sakura.

"You're right," Hayden said suddenly.

Tomoyo began letting her foot off the brakes.

"TAKE THEM OUT!" he yelled at the helicopter before running back into the warehouse.

The helicopter rose in the air and pointed the cockpit down straight down at them. Meiling swore seeing a pair of missile rockets attached to the underbelly of the black machine.

"Damn," Sakura said mildly.

In a small explosion of white and red sparks, the missile shot forwards aiming straight for them.

Tomoyo slammed down onto the speed pedal. With a loud ear-piercing screech, the van leapt into the action racing down the narrow, deserted street at over a hundred kilometres an hour. Tomoyo thanked whatever god was nearby that their van was parked near the edge of the pier.

"Getting ready to jump," she said to Sakura and Meiling.

The two other Angels nodded as Tomoyo pressed the pedal as far down as it would go.

The Angels heard rather then saw the explosion behind them as an intense wave of heat washed over the van, concussive waves shattered the back window as Tomoyo grinned.

We're going to make it

A few seconds later, the van shot over the edge of the pier and slammed into the ocean.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Hayden stepped out from the warehouse that had protected him from the blast and smirked as he resisted the urge to pump his fist in triumph. The Angels were taken care of and now his promotion was within his grasp once more. Smiling to himself, he turned around to face the helicopter and waited patiently for the helicopter to drop a rope ladder as planned.

His smile froze as the helicopter hovered above the burning debris, flames licking the underbelly of the black machine. It was as though a black winged monster had stepped out from the very fires of hell itself and for the first time in his life Hayden felt a deep sense of fear. The helicopter continued to hover as Hayden gestured wildly for them to come to him.

Nothing happened.

Putting on a brave front he waved some more.

Still nothing.

Then Hayden knew with an overwhelming feeling of fear and horror that his days were over. The helicopter slowly flew through the flames. The wind caused by its revolving rotors fanned the flames to become a giant white-hot engulfing blaze. Hayden wondered desperately why his plan had fallen apart.

Five seconds later he got his answer. He looked up to see Lilia smirking at him from the cockpit smiling smugly at him from her seat beside the pilot, Lilia flashed him one final grin and gave him a small wave goodbye.

Hayden whirled around and ran for his life back into the warehouse, back to somewhere he could be safe. Back to somewhere where he could hide from the harsh truth: he was going to die... tonight.

Lilia gave the final command and the final missile shot forwards.

It hit with devastating effect.

Hayden was half in through the doorway of the warehouse just as the missile slammed into the concrete ground. It punched through the thin layer of the concrete and struck the wooden structuring of the pier beneath. It exploded throwing flames and debris into the air like a volcano. Concussive wave rippled out from the damage site and reduced the rest of the supporting wooden beams to mere splinters.

With one final crack, the final columns of wood holding up the pier shattered.

In one small second, it was as though the whole block of warehouses were defying gravity as it leaned forwards dangerously but resisted the urge of gravity hanging there for a few impossible seconds above the tumbling waves.

Then gravity grasped the warehouses and gave a might tug and the burning buildings, concrete and wood fell into the ocean throwing up a giant cloud of thick black smoke and sprays of water.

The black helicopter circled the destruction it had caused before flying off into the night sky.

Onboard Lilia smiled in satisfaction and congratulated herself on a job well done.

The Angels were gone.

Hayden was taken care off.

Life was looking good.

The promotion was hers.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Inside the sinking van, Meiling resisted the urge to panic as seawater slowly crept into the van seeping in from under the doors and windows instead she tried to open the door but to her frustration it wouldn't budge. Seeing no other way out, she punched the window.

The seawater swirling around in the van hampered her movements but she did manage to crack the glass. The water pushed up against the weakened window and slowly pushed in causing the glass first to budge then caused more cracks to zigzag crazily across the surface. Then these cracks widened and began letting in water, finally Meiling punched it one more time and the glass shattered.

Water began pouring into the van as Meiling turned around with difficulty to see how Sakura and Tomoyo were faring. They had already shattered the other window and Tomoyo was in the process of getting out, Meiling took a deep breath and shoved her body through the gaping hole where the window used to be.

With much difficulty she kicked with her legs and shoved off from the sinking van with her arms. Freeing herself from the vehicle she turned around to find both Tomoyo and Sakura had already gotten out.

The three Angels kicked towards the surface holding their breath as best they can. After what seemed like eternity they final broke the surface shooting up from the waters like three mythical mermaids. Tomoyo's hair clung to neck and face as Sakura shook her head sending small sprays of water flying out from her auburn hair.

They turned around and viewed in silence the burning carcass of what used to be the block of warehouses, flames danced along the broken buildings throwing eerie light onto the water surface. Smoke billowed out in all direction overpowering Meiling's senses with the stench of burnt wood, plastic and metal.

Around them floated bits of debris some still smoking others blackened by the flames. Metal sheets floated by twisted into unrecognisable shape by the intense heat, here and there floated planks of wood those that had survived the initial blast and the resulting fire.

"What happened?" Sakura asked treading water.

Meiling grabbed onto a piece of wood that was floating past and used it to help buoy her body up.

"The second missile must have been launched," she guessed watching the fire devour the rest of the warehouses.

"Why?" Tomoyo asked following Meiling's example and grabbing a piece of wood,

" Why would Hayden launch another missile when the first one missed us and we were already in the water?"

"Yeah, Hayden probably thought we were killed in the first missile attack. He would hiding in the warehouse," Sakura added.

"Unless..." Tomoyo began, "Unless whoever was in the helicopter launched the second missile at Hayden instead of going for us..."

"Why would someone want to kill Hayden?" Meiling asked confused, "I thought we were the targets."

There was a slight pause in the conversation as the girls thought about it for a few minutes.

"Whoever was in the helicopter saw us go over the edge and thought we'll probably drown. Then that person must have taken out Hayden because he was a threat to them," Sakura guessed.

"Well, great now that we know what happened we still don't know where the real kidnappers are," Meiling grumbled.

"If there any kidnappers in the first place," Tomoyo added.

"There is," Meiling said with conviction in her voice, "Remember what Hayden said? They bugged our headquarters, they probably heard about the mission and rushed over here to kill Derrick and got Hayden to take his place to trick us."

"So now what?" Sakura demanded, "We've got a mission to complete and we don't know where the exchange is taking place."

"No, but I do," a weak voice said.

The Angels turned around and gasped.

"You," Meiling said venomously.

"I can help you."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Marcus Flaron watched with helpless rage as the thugs who had kidnapped his daughter grin at him daring him to attack, to save his daughter.

He closed his eyes and prayed to god.

Please god, send someone to help me

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"You," Meiling snarled.

"I can help you."

Both Sakura and Tomoyo's eyes hardened as they saw who had spoken. Hayden, his hair black with soot and his face and body covered in horrific burns clung to a piece of debris his pale blue eyes stared at them pleading for them to listen to him.

"Pl... please..." he coughed violently clutching the piece of wood in desperation, "I can help you."

"What with?" Tomoyo asked with a hint of steel in her voice.

"Ma... Marcus... Fl... Fla... Flaron," Hayden bit on his lip trying to stifle his screams of pain as the seawater attacked at his many burns, "I know where it is..."

"Where?"

"Before I tell you swear you'll help me," Hayden murmured.

"Tell us now," Meiling glared at him.

"The warehouse... is... is... it is... in... block F... num... number... 14... it is near... nea... nearby," Hayden's grip on the plank of wood loosened.

Sakura swam over to him and checked his many burns quickly, when she looked at him her face was grim.

"You don't have long to live," she said quietly.

Hayden smiled bitterly.

"I know... be... be... beware of Lilia... she... sh... she... did... al... all... this. She... is... is... dang... dangerous," Hayden's eyes took on a faraway look as his hands began going numb letting the piece of wood float away, "Spinnel Corporation... kno... know... knows about... your... your..."

Sakura watched him closely trying to understand what he was saying but as Hayden's eyes began closing she began panicking.

"About my what?" Sakura screamed at him, "What do they know?"

Hayden smiled at her softly before he sank beneath the waves. His body sank straight to the bottom to rest for eternity in its watery grave. Tomoyo and Meiling remained silent but Sakura was still yelling.

"What do they know?" Sakura continued to scream at the water, "What?"

"Sakura!" Tomoyo broke in to her friend's ranting, "We've got a man and girl to rescue! Hayden was probably delirious from his wounds. He is dead! We've got to make sure that Marcus Flaron and his daughter doesn't end up the same!"

Sakura's emerald eyes were still livid with fear and rage but she nodded.

"Let's go," she said tersely.

All three girls began swimming back towards the shore but Tomoyo couldn't help take one final look back at the spot where Hayden's dead body had vanished beneath the rolling ocean waves.

"Rest in peace," she said sombrely.

With that she shoved the thought of the dead man to the back of her head and concentrated on the task at hand.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Marcus Flaron looked on in fear as his bound and gagged five-year-old daughter struggled in the iron-hard grip of one of the thugs. A steady river of tears flowed down his daughter's face as the thug sneered at Marcus's helplessness.

"Well, well Mr. Flaron," a familiar voice said coolly, "How silly of me to be late for such an important meeting but then you always do arrive early."

Marcus stiffened hearing the voice; he clenched his fists tightly as he beat down a choking wave of fear and rage.

"Malus..." he growled.

Malus Harrason, Marcus's former boss and owner of Crell's Partners law firm, stepped out from the shadows, a humourless smile dancing across his lips.

"Ahhh... Marcus," his grey-eyes studied his former employee as his bony hands stroked the material of his dark grey suit, "You seem a bit thin. Stress getting to you?"

"Give me back my daughter," Marcus snarled.

"Your dear child will be fine as long as you behave yourself," Marcus longed to wipe that arrogant grin off the old man's pale face.

Malus Harrason continued to smile at him as Marcus's daughter continued to struggle in the grip of the thugs.

"Tsk, tsk," he sighed, "Children these days... Frank, restrain her."

The thug tightened his grip cruelly as the little girl began weeping in earnest, her bright blue eyes begging for her father to save her.

"Why?" Marcus spat.

"Why?" Malus repeated with an arched eyebrow, "Simple, I love power and I have power through my law firm and you took it away from me. You know how much money I lost? How much respect and power I lost through your own cowardliness?"

"I did what was right," Marcus took a step towards his former boss but the rest of the hired thugs waiting in the shadows let out a warning growl.

"Now, now. No need to be rash. I'm sure we can works thing out like civilised gentlemen," Malus let out a small laugh his grey eyes shining in glee seeing Marcus's despair, "It's time we have a little talk."

"About what?" Marcus demanded.

"About everything and anything," Malus replied simply, "Let's start with why your little daughter is in trouble... her name is Lily isn't it?"

Marcus remained silent glaring at his enemy.

"You see you still live in delusional world. You believe there is still good in the world and good things come to good people however you are sadly mistaken," Malus preached with fanatical light in his grey eyes, "This world is full of evil, the mindless drones that make up our population listen to people of power and how do you get power? Through money. It doesn't matter how you get it as long as you do then will people finally respect you."

"So?" Marcus growled.

"It means that you don't have money thus you have no real power in this world whilst I on the other hand have plenty but you took so of that away from me and now I have to make sure you and your daughter are... 'taken care' of or otherwise I may loose so of that respect and power I so richly deserve," Malus favoured Marcus with another humourless grin, "Just before your daughter dies I would like to say it's nothing personally don't take any offence."

"Good," a new voice said.

Marcus frowned, this voice was different it was definitely a woman's but it held power and fire. He knew straight away that this was one woman nobody messed with.

"Than you won't take any offence at us kicking your butt," the woman continued.

Malus Harrason looked past Marcus's shadow at something or someone behind him.

"Take care of them please," he said to the thugs in the shadows.

Marcus turned around slowly and gaped seeing three women standing in the doorway of the warehouse. Seawater trickled down from their bodies and dripped onto the floor but even though they were soaked to the bone there was still an aura of power and determination radiating from the trio.

"Bring it on," a black-haired woman spoke.

What happened next left Marcus gasping in disbelief.

Meiling scowled at the sight of a little girl being held captive by a large thug but she pushed her emotions aside and studied the scene before her. A tall man with dark hair and soft brown eyes were gaping at them a look of shock appearing onto his well-sculpted face. She looked past the man who was obviously the little girl's father and saw another man standing beside the captive girl.

A thin, old man with thinning grey hair and cold, hard eyes like stone looked at them with nothing more than curiosity on his time ravaged face.

"Take care of them please," the old man said to the thugs in a refined voice.

The thugs lunged from the shadows not expecting any resistance from three girls.

"Bring it on," Meiling smirked.

She charged at the first thug and leapt into the air planting two solids kicks on his chest and shoulder seeing the big oaf stumbling backwards, she landed with feline grace turning around in time to rearrange another thug's face with her fist. Blood gushed from his broken nose as Meiling wrinkled her nose.

"That better not stain my clothes," she muttered finishing the thug off with a quick kick.

Beside her Tomoyo was being charged by two thugs one wielding a wicked-looking knife, the other a length of chain, which he twirled above his head. Tomoyo easily dispatched the knife-wielder with a quick spin kick to the neck as the knife flew from the thug's grip Tomoyo snatched it from the air and brought the blade up in time to block the chain-holding thugs attack. The length of rusty chain wrapped itself around Tomoyo's knife as the Japanese Angel yanked the chain from the thug's grip. She whipped the blade around with chain attached and smiled in satisfaction as the chain slashed across the thug's face.

"Oh, my poor baby," she cooed as the thug stumbled backward temporarily blinded.

She finished him off with a solid kick before throwing the length of chain to Sakura who was surrounded by a trio of thugs.

"Thanks!" Sakura called.

She expertly twirled the chain around and whipped it at knee-height, the first two thugs were smart enough to jump but the last was a second too slow and toppled over as the chain wrapped itself around his knees. Sakura worked the chain free and whirled around as one of thugs lunged at her. A length of rusty metal links knocked him out of the air as Sakura sent the last thug crashing into a stack of wooden crates.

"Tomoyo! Sakura!" Meiling cried.

"What?" both Angels turned around.

"Boost!"

Tomoyo and Sakura nodded to each other and finished off the opponent they were fighting with before running towards each other and kneeling down. Meiling kick another thug out of the way and raced at her two friends who has been this time formed a cradle by twining their fingers together. Meiling leapt as her left foot landed into the cradle made by Sakura's hand and her right foot landed in Tomoyo's. Both girls suddenly stood up and threw the arms up boosting Meiling forwards and up into the air. Meiling twirled her body around in mid-air and landed lightly in front of the old man and the thug holding the girl.

"Now why are you girls fighting to save this little child?" the old man asked, "Did Marcus pay you?"

"No," Meiling growled.

She didn't waste anymore time in trading barbs with the old man instead she took the thug out with a quick punch to the temple. The thug stumbled backwards and crashed into the wooden crates as the girl fell to the ground her body bound by lengths of rope. Meiling made short work of the rope tearing it apart in a burst of anger and strength and yanked the gag out of the little girl's mouth.

"Now you be a good girl and run over to your daddy as your fairy godmothers kick some big bad losers' butt," Meiling told the girl.

Usually Marcus would have disapproved of that kind of language being said around his daughter but he was too busy trying figuring out who these girls were to do anything else.

The girl nodded and shyly and ran to her daddy as Meiling whirled around to join the fight.

Trapped between three Angels a small pile of unconscious thugs soon adorned the warehouse floor.

"That was easy," Sakura commented.

"Who are you girls? And why do you disturb my business?" the old man demanded anger finally filling his voice.

"These people are under Angel protection so keep your hands off them," Meiling growled gesturing at Marcus who was now hugging his little daughter as tightly as he could, shedding tears of grateful joy.

"Angels?" the old man said wistfully, "Ahh... I knew an Angel before."

"Mallus Harrason, you come near my daughter again and I'll kill you," Marcus snarled.

"As if you have the spine, Marcus," the old man smirked, "You're a coward! You couldn't even save your wife."

"How dare..."

"You knew an Angel?" Sakura asked.

"Two in fact but one died..." Mallus eyed Sakura thoughtfully, "I've seen you before... somewhere..."

Sakura frowned puzzled as Tomoyo and Meiling glared at Mallus, contempt visible in their hard eyes.

"Ahh... you're Nadeshiko's daughter!" Mallus snapped his fingers suddenly, "Terrific girl, a bit dense but..."

"Don't you dare insult my mother!" Sakura snarled.

"I wouldn't dream of insulting a dead person," Mallus smirked.

"How dare you!"

Before anybody could act Sakura snatched the knife from Tomoyo's hands and hurled it at the man. Mallus's grey eyes were filled with amusement but Sakura could see the fear lurking behind them as the knife thudded into a wooden crate pinning his sleeve to the timber.

"Let's go," she told Tomoyo and Meiling suddenly, "This man is nothing but a senile bitter shell."

Tomoyo nodded.

"Marcus Flaron? Do you want to leave now?" Tomoyo asked, her voice leaving no doubt to Marcus that it was a command rather than a question.

He nodded and hugged his daughter to him before scooping her up into his arms.

"I'm ready."

Sakura shot Mallus one final glare that would have caused ice to burst into flames before leaving with her friends.

"So who are you?" Marcus asked as his daughter studied the girls with her bright blue eyes.

"Us?" Meiling smiled, "We're Angels."

Marcus was mesmerised by the woman's grin. Her bright ruby eyes seem to hypnotise him as he studied her carefully noting her red, soft lips and flawless skin. Her wet clothes clung to her body revealing a well-developed figure showing off her muscular body as well as her soft curves but it was her eyes that drew him the most. They seemed to show the woman's determination and strength but also showed the softer, kinder side of her. Some say that the eyes were the windows to the soul than this woman's soul must be as pure as pristine snow and as powerful as a raging forest fire.

He thought back to the prayers he had made in the warehouse and smiled.

Thank you, god.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AHHHH!! Why did I put so much fluff towards the end? (Shrugs) By now you probably figured Marcus is a bit of a romantic. Anyway wasn't it an interesting chapter. The beginning of a Meiling/Marcus Flaron romance, the first clue of the truth behind Nadeshiko Kinomoto and of course the death of Hayden. So many things are about to happen but it only gets more interesting... I hope.

Next chapter:

The girls have enjoyed a short relaxing break in Australia but are heading back to L.A. with Marcus and his daughter in tow but once back in America each girl will have to face her demons. For Meiling, it is her fear that she is not beautiful enough to find true love. For Sakura it is her painful high school memories as she goes to her fifth year reunion but perhaps it is Tomoyo who has the worse. She has the face her own demon in disguise... a demon by the name of Eriol Higarizawa... all this and a whole lot more in... _Of Angels and Demons_

A/Note: Well, as I mentioned before the first character created by a winner of the Syaoran's Angels winner has appeared but don't worry we'll see more of Mallus Harrason later!

Thanks you, Amy Dreise for creating such a wonderful and evil character and congratulations to the winners, so far there are:

Amy Dreise

Ms.evil (please e-mail me with your character!)

SaKuRa LoVa

And a few others (you know who you are and please e-mail me with your character!)

And yes there is going to be S+S romance but this **does not **mean it will turn out to be a S/S fic, it will depend on how the story works out. For those who are wondering Syaoran will probably appear in the next four to five chapters... if it goes according to my non-existent plan.

So watch for him!


	10. Of Angels and Demons

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I have over 100 reviews! THANKS TO ALL MY WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL REVIEWERS! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, MORE REVIEWS MEANS MORE CHAPTERS!!

Disclaimer: still don't own anything.

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 9: Of Angels and Demons**

Marcus Flaron couldn't help but blush as his finger brushed against Meiling Rae's hand as he reached to get a glass of brandy from the flight attendant. A similar blush appeared on Meiling's face as three pairs of eyes studied the couple. One of them was bright blue, innocent and unknowing of what was going on, the other two one green, the other lavender was shining with mirth and amusement.

Marcus flashed the flight attendant a bright grin and leaned back into his chair glancing across the aisle at his daughter who was seating in between Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji. Satisfied that his daughter was safe and had recovered from her ordeal with Mallus and his thugs and was enjoying her flight, he concentrated onto his glass carefully trying not to be too obvious as he sneaked glances at the raven-haired beauty seating beside him.

Despite Marcus's best efforts, Meiling was quite aware of that fact that he was studying her. Trying to stop herself from blushing, she satisfied herself by sending her two friends a vicious death glare for putting her into this position.

Tomoyo merely smirked as Sakura gave her a little wave. Lily was too busy trying to peel her packet of peanuts open to pay any attention to her father or the girls she had already adopted as her aunties.

"Aunty Tomoyo," Lily sighed, "Can you get this packet open for me?"

Marcus seating in the aisle next to his daughter cleared his throat loudly. Lily pouted.

"Please?" she added.

Tomoyo smiled and helped the little girl as Sakura eyed Meiling and Marcus thoughtfully.

Personally both she and Tomoyo approved of Marcus. He was definitely handsome with his soft, soulful brown eyes that accented his blonde-brown hair perfectly. He had a warm smile and was fairly easy going. His obvious adoration of his daughter touched Sakura, whose own dad had been away for most of her childhood and his easy acceptance of them being Angels also gave him a few more points in her books. Yep, Marcus Flaron was definitely someone she was sure she would like and his obvious liking of Meiling made Sakura grin devilishly as she planned her next move in her matchmaking scheme.

Tomoyo opened the packet and left Lily to happily scoff its contents as she concentrated onto her new mission. She sighed seeing both Meiling and Marcus ignoring each other even though they kept shooting little glances at each other. Although Meiling was a bold and fierce fighter in battle, she was, no offence, a bit of a shrew on the dating scene. She had this habit of clamming up around men and Tomoyo was determined to pry her friend out of her shell no matter what it took. Some gut instinct told her that Meiling and Marcus would be good for each other and both of them definitely deserved some happiness.

Tomoyo sighed thinking her job would be a lot easier if Marcus was little bolder but she had managed to wheedle out of Lily the fact that Marcus was a bit shy around women.

Catching Sakura's eyes, both girls grinned at each other preparing to play matchmaker for their friend. Seeing the glint in Sakura's eyes, she knew the American Angel had a plan.

"Sooo... Meiling..." Sakura began grinning innocently.

"What?" Meiling asked suspiciously knowing that Sakura was up to something.

"I was just thinking..."

"Out with it," Meiling scowled.

"Well," Sakura sighed melodramatically, "You really can't stay at my house once we get back. I think my dad is going to be a little suspicious if you turn up again. I mean we did tell him just before we left we were heading off for a few days until R.I.K.A. left your house."

Meiling winced thinking about their somewhat pathetic excuse for going off for a few days. Little did Fujitaka know that they had gone to Australia to rescue Marcus and Lily.

"R.I.K.A?" Marcus asked confuse.

"Russian Institute of Korean Architecture," Tomoyo explained.

"Okay..." Marcus frowned confused.

"Anyway," Sakura was almost purring by now, "Since you can't stay at my house and I'm going off to my reunion why don't you stay at Tomoyo's house."

Tomoyo shrugged.

"Why not?" she said not knowing where Sakura was heading with this conversation.

"And wouldn't it be safer for Marcus and Lily if they also stayed with you guys?"

Tomoyo almost choked on her laughter as both Meiling and Marcus blushed. Lily was immediately ecstatic.

"Daddy! Daddy! Can we stay at Aunty Tomoyo's house?" the little girl bounced on her seat excitedly as Sakura grinned at Meiling.

Meiling sent Sakura her most deadly glare and vowed she would make her pay later.

"We wouldn't want to impose..." Marcus began as Lily sighed not liking her father's tone, "We'll just go to a hotel or something."

"What if Mallus tries to make another move on you or Lily?" Tomoyo asked serious, "You can stay at my house it won't be any trouble at all."

"Then I'm going back to my house," Meiling declared.

"No way, what if somebody attacks my house?" Tomoyo asked, "I'm not sure I can protect both of them at once."

Meiling was trapped and she knew it but she kept arguing.

"We'll call Syaoran tonight and he'll send Marcus and Lily to a safehouse or something. Somewhere safer than our houses," she argued.

"By the time we get back it'll be really late," Tomoyo reminded her telling her a little white lie, "I don't think Syaoran would enjoy a phone call at that time."

"Come on Aunty Meiling!" Lily urged grinning at her, "Let's have a sleepover at Aunty Tomoyo's house!"

Meiling couldn't help but smile at the young girl's sunny nature.

"Fine," she sighed.

"Yeah, a sleepover but who's sleeping with who?" Sakura said wickedly batting her eyelids at Meiling and Marcus.

She was awarded with two blushing faces, a death glare and a slight punch from Tomoyo.

"Not in front of the kids," Tomoyo reminded her even though Lily had no idea what Sakura meant.

"What did you mean Aunty Sakura?" Lily asked confused with a small frown on her face, "Is Daddy sleeping with someone?"

Sakura and Tomoyo choked on their laughter as Meiling glared at them feeling her suddenly hot face. Marcus sighed and leaned back into his chair.

This was going to be a long, long flight...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura smiled happily to herself and unlocked the door to her apartment.

"I'm home!" she called out cheerfully.

"Sakura?" Fujitaka stood in the hallway, "I thought you were coming back tomorrow morning."

Sakura grinned.

"Change of plans, I'm going to my reunion!" she said happily dropping her bags onto the floor and closing the door behind her.

Fujitaka grinned at his daughter's obvious excitement as Sakura walked to her bedroom and began getting changed for the big event.

"So how do I look?" she said opening her door with a smile.

Fujitaka stared at his daughter and almost swallowed his own tongue seeing how much like her mother she was. Sakura was wearing a simple white dress with printed pictures of cherry blossom on it that came down to just above her knees. Her hair was done up in their usual braids with long strands of auburn hair trailing down the back of her neck, her face had no make up on it just a little bit of lip gloss highlighting the softness of her ruby lips. Her emerald eyes danced as a grin lit up her face as her father continued to stare at her in shock.

"So?"

"Beautiful," Fujitaka grinned, "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," Sakura beamed back.

She glanced at her watch and groaned seeing the time.

"I'm going to be late!" she wailed.

Fujitaka smiled seeing his daughter dash around like a madwoman, this was very reminiscent of her childhood when even the loudest alarm clock in the world couldn't wake her in time up to get her to school without being late. Grabbing her purse and car keys she kissed her father on her cheeks and sprinted out of the door.

Fujitaka smiled.

"She gets more like her mother everyday," he mused closing the door.

He had no idea how right he was.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo sighed with relief as she opened her door. Meiling and Marcus who was holding Lily in his arms followed her. They all stepped through the doorway as Tomoyo smiled glad to be home.

"It's only nine o'clock," she mused glancing at her watch, "How about that."

"I thought it was going to be late," Meiling glared at her.

Tomoyo smiled easily and shrugged.

"Oops, I must have miscalculated," she grinned at her.

"I'll bet," Meiling growled.

Marcus cleared his throat loudly.

"Do you have a spare room for Lily?" he asked, "It's about time she went to bed."

Lily immediately kicked up a fuss.

"But daddy," she whined, "It's only nine o'clock!! I wanna to stay up and play with Auntie Tomoyo and Meiling."

Tomoyo grinned seeing another perfect opening for the next part of her matchmaking scheme fold out in front of her.

"Why don't you and I go see a movie or something?" she asked Lily.

Lily nodded eagerly.

"But it's nine..." Marcus began.

"Oh come on! Let her have a bit of fun after what she went through," Tomoyo told him.

Marcus sighed as Lily began laughing and clapping her hands.

"But you're going to bed straight after you come back," Marcus warned his daughter.

Lily shrugged as Marcus knelt down allowing Lily to leap from his arms and to Tomoyo.

"Come on Auntie Tomoyo let's see a movie!" Lily said excitedly.

"You want me to come?" Meiling asked immediately becoming suspicious as Tomoyo grinned at her the picture of innocence.

"Nah, that's okay," she grinned, "Lily and I can play together and you and Marcus can..."

"I think I'm going to bed," Marcus announced cutting her off.

Tomoyo shrugged.

"Doesn't concern me," she grinned again, "Meiling can you show him the spare room?"

Meiling glared at her.

"And you have to stay here to protect him," Tomoyo reminded her seriously.

Meiling nodded slowly still glaring at her friend.

"Come on, Lily let's go!" Tomoyo smiled down at the little girl.

The two departed as Marcus and Meiling stared at each other.

"So..."

"So..."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura grinned as she stepped out from her car chatting happily into her mobile phone.

"Tomoyo, you're evil!" she announced.

_'Thank you,' _Tomoyo said in a smug voice.

Sakura grinned at the phone as she heard Lily began complaining in the background.

"I think you better see that movie or Lily is going to throw a tantrum," she said amused, "And I better get to my reunion."

_'Okay, have fun. Bye!'_

"Bye!" Sakura hung up and slipped the phone back into her purse.

After a few minutes hesitation, she threw her purse into the back of her car and strolled to venue for her reunions, which was usually a night bar but tonight had been rented out to her old high school.

She glanced around seeing the carpark was packed with cars of all brands, colours and descriptions and took a deep breath trying to shove the thoughts of her nightmarish high school experience to the back of her head.

"Time to party," she murmured to herself.

Purposely she strolled to the door and pushed it open, her ears were immediately assaulted with the sounds of music and happy conversation. Taking one last breath, she made her final remark and stepped in.

"I'm going in."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Diana Armstrong chatted happily with her old high school friends totally oblivious to her surroundings.

"This is so cool!" she gushed grinning at Chelsea.

The auburn haired woman who still wore her hair in her trademark pigtails nodded as her husband Zachary grinned at Diana hugging her wife around her waist.

"Wow, so you're a lawyer now. I knew you would achieve your dream one day," Zachary said grinning at Diana easily.

Diana grinned back at him.

"I know, I love my job but the only problem is..."

"What?" Chelsea asked watching her friend carefully.

"I don't have a boyfriend!"

Chelsea smirked.

"At least I don't have that problem," she smiled up at her husband and gripped his arm tightly.

Diana mock glared at her old friend and turned her attention to the front door.

"What's all the fuss about?" she murmured, blue-grey eyes confused.

There was a huge commotion at the door as someone walked in, girls were letting out vicious glares and envious sighs as the men began whistling approvingly staring at the person at the door.

"I don't know," Zachary shrugged, "One of the Harpies?"

Harpies had been their old nickname for the high school cheerleaders, Diana had come up with in one day during English whilst they were studying Greek mythology. It referred to the cheerleaders as having the illusion of being beautiful but was really hideous and foul once seen close up.

"Probably," Diana shrugged, "Its probably nothing."

"Yeah," Chelsea echoed her.

Sakura pushed open the door and strolled in her face lighting up with a huge grin seeing the massive party inside. She walked on oblivious to the fact that every man she passed stared at her mesmerised by this auburn-haired goddess.

She smiled broadly seeing the packed dance floor and strolled to the bar eager for a quick drink before hitting the dance floor.

"A soda, thanks," she flashed the barkeeper a bright grin.

The barkeeper immediately went to fulfil her order as she glanced around seeing if there was anybody she knew.

"Thanks," Sakura smiled sipping her drink as the barkeeper scurried off.

She sat down onto the stool and watched the bar deep in her thought.

Maybe this wasn't such a great idea... her mind began.

Why not? another part of her wanted to know.

Come on, Sakura! You were a nerd! No matter how much you've changed you are still going to be a nerd in their eyes!

Yeah, then let's make them see otherwise the other part of brain retorted.

Sakura giggled wondering why she was arguing with herself.

Let's have some fun! she thought wickedly.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Zachary stopped halfway through a sentence hearing a familiar giggle. That laugh struck a familiar chord within his mind.

"Zachary?" Diana asked shaking her friend slightly.

"Sorry," he shook himself, "I thought I heard something?"

"What?" Chelsea asked.

"I don't know," he stopped, "This may seem silly but I heard someone laugh and I swear I think it's Cherry."

"Cherry?!" Diana looked around but couldn't see the girl in question, "She came?"

"Don't know," Zachary told her, "We haven't talked to her for a long while now."

Diana's blue-grey eyes roved around the packed nightclub hoping to spot her best friend but she couldn't see her. Sighing in disappointment she switched her attention back to Chelsea and Zachary only to find them staring at something else.

"Hello?" she waved her hands in front of their eyes.

Wordlessly Chelsea pointed at the dance floor. Frowning in confusion, Diana turned around and blinked seeing what the others were seeing.

"Cherry?" she murmured.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura laughed delightedly as she danced letting her body flow with the music. She was so caught up in the song and in her own movements she was unaware of the fact that a circle of men had formed around her each one staring at the auburn-haired goddess as she danced seductively.

"Who is she?" one of the murmured.

"I don't know but she's mine!" another answered wickedly.

"I saw her first!" another argued.

"Yeah right."

Towards the back of the club a ring of Harpies had gathered as each glared venomously at the girl at the centre of the men's speculation.

"Who is she?" a blonde-haired woman wearing a tight-fitting dress demanded.

"I don't know but I'm pretty sure she didn't went to our school," another commented.

"Then she shouldn't be here!" the blonde snapped back, "it's time we got her to leave!"

The Harpies nodded in agreement.

"Let's go!" the blonde growled as she stormed towards the dance floor.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Cherry?!" a soft voice murmured behind Sakura.

Sakura whirled around and a brilliant smile spread across her face as she looked into a pair of grey-blue eyes.

"Di!" she squealed excitedly hugging her friend tightly, "God, it's been a long time since I've seen you!"

"Yo... yo... you rea... rea... really are Cherry..." Diana stammered, "You've changed!"

"I know," Sakura grinned whirling around showing off to her friend, "And please call me Sakura."

Diana blinked.

"You're using your Japanese name now?" she asked.

Sakura winked at her.

"Come on, let's dance!" she said wickedly grinning at some of the men standing around them.

Diana blinked in surprise as Sakura began dancing again swaying gracefully to the music, her body moving in synch to the vibrant beat. Diana smiled as she heard Sakura's familiar delighted laughter.

No matter how much she's changed, she still the same old girl Diana mused comparing the new and improved Sakura to the old high school nerd she had once been.

Physically she had changed a lot, she had lost some weight and had got rid of her braces revealing perfect white teeth. She no longer wore plain woollen blouses that had concealed her body nor did she tie her hair up into a one giant ponytail. She had become more confident of herself and... Diana blinked. She gave off an aura of power, Diana had seen it before in powerful politicians, sport stars, famous lawyers, people who were sure of themselves and the world. People who had their destinies firmly grasped in their hands. Sakura acted like them, she gave off a vibe of power and determination and Diana wondered briefly what had caused it.

For all her physical differences Sakura remained the same optimistic, happy-go-lucky girl she had been in high school. She had the same playful demeanour and from what Diana could see Sakura could still make everybody around her happy and cheerful.

Diana laughed happily seeing Sakura's contagious smile as the auburn haired beauty continued dancing. Diana looked past her friends shoulder and grimaced seeing who was coming.

"Harpies at twelve o'clock," she warned.

Sakura blinked.

"The Harpies?" Sakura whirled around and saw the gaggle of ex-cheerleaders heading their way, "This is going to be fun."

Diana blinked. The old Sakura would have ran off and hidden by now, she had always been intimidated by the cheerleaders' beauty and popularity and had been terrified of their cruel tongue. But this Sakura... she didn't show the slightest bit of fear, instead she looked forward to sparring with them. Diana shook her head and wondered once more what could have caused this massive change.

"Excuse me, like hello?"

Diana recognised Belinda, who had been the most popular girl at school and has also been the head of the cheerleaders. She wondered briefly what Sakura would do but seeing her friend's devilish grin she felt a moment of pity for the blonde-haired cow.

"Yes?" Sakura asked flicking a lazy smile at them.

"This is a school reunion," Belinda smirked, "And since you didn't go to school, you should like leave."

Sakura grinned at her again showing too much teeth for Diana's comfort. The girl stopped dancing and continued to grin at Belinda reminding Diana of a cat that was looking at an unsuspecting mouse.

"Belinda?" Sakura gasped suddenly, "I didn't recognise you! OH MY GOD! You've changed, you've put... I mean lost some weight!"

Diana resisted the urge to laugh as Belinda glared at Sakura, if looks could kill Sakura would have been burning for eternity in the darkest pits of hell.

"Who are you?" Belinda barked.

"Sakura," Sakura grinned, "Or Cherry Blossom as I was known in my high school years."

Belinda blinked.

"Cherry?" she gaped.

Sakura took advantage of Belinda's shock to turn to Diana.

"I'm dying for a drink, you want to come?" she asked.

Diana smiled and nodded, both girls left the dance floor leaving behind a stunned cheerleader and a group of disappointed men.

"I just love reunions," Sakura sighed.

Diana couldn't agree more with her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"So..." Meiling began.

Marcus stared at her and couldn't help note the way her raven-black hair glistened in the light.

"I should show you to your room..." Meiling began and stopped seeing Marcus staring at her, "What are you staring at?"

"You're beautiful," Marcus murmured.

He flushed as he realised he had said it out loud.

"Sorry... I didn't mean that..." he stammered.

Meiling merely nodded sadly.

"Of course you didn't," she bit off bitterly.

Marcus blinked at her.

"What did you mean by that?" he asked softly.

"Nothing," she said shortly.

"No, what did you mean," he took a step towards her.

Meiling looked up hesitantly and couldn't help but blush as she stared into his soft brown eyes.

"You don't mean that," she said softly.

"Mean what?" Marcus wanted to know.

Meiling tried to look away but she couldn't as she stood there staring into his eyes. Conflicting emotions duelled for dominance within her body and mind as she continued to stare at him.

"Mean what?" Marcus repeated softly.

"I'm beautiful..."

Marcus blinked.

"Pardon?"

Meiling took a deep breath.

"You don't mean I'm beautiful," she repeated louder glaring at him daring for him to argue.

"What do you mean by that? Of course you're beautiful," Marcus told her, "You the most beautiful women I've met."

Meiling flushed and looked down admiring the carpet on the floor as Marcus stared at her trying to figure out what was going on.

"Meiling?" he said softly, "What is it?"

Meiling bit her lip as the old fears came up again inside her head. She wasn't beautiful at least not as beautiful as Tomoyo or Sakura. Her whole life, she had trained to become a warrior as a result her body had become muscular and lean, men didn't like that they liked petite women with soft curves or long hair like Tomoyo or a beautiful figure like Sakura. To men she was ugly. She bit down harder onto her lip and made herself look up.

"I'm not beautiful," she said brokenly.

"What?" Marcus exclaimed startled, "Of course you are."

Meiling shook her head vehemently.

"I'm not beautiful," she repeated, "I don't look beautiful... I'm just plain... I'm just ugly."

"Look?" Marcus repeated half-amused, "Meiling, you _are _beautiful outside and inside."

He paused.

"At least you are... to me."

Before Meiling could react Marcus crossed the room to her and gripped her shoulders tightly. He leaned forward and softly placed his lips over hers.

Meiling left out her breath slowly as Marcus deepened their kiss holding her tighter to his body. She threw her arms around his neck and closed her deeply kissing him harder. Happiness sang within her heart as her mind exploded in ecstasy halting the processing of any coherent thought.

I am beautiful she thought happily I'm beautiful... to him

Meiling smiled against Marcus's lips as he slowly broke off. He hugged her tightly and smiled down at her.

"Wow," he said simply.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo laughed as Lily jumped around happily, spilling popcorn everywhere. They had already bought their tickets and were waiting in the lobby for their drinks. Lily stuffed a handful of popcorn into her mouth and laughed happily as Tomoyo shook her head smiling to herself.

"Well, well fancy seeing you here," a familiar voice said behind her.

Tomoyo whirled around and flushed seeing who it was. A familiar blue-haired man with a devilish smile on his face winked at her wickedly.

"Eriol," she said happily.

"Tomoyo, you look great," Eriol told her.

Tomoyo's face reddened even more.

"Thanks," she said shyly.

Lily walked up to them a bottle of coke clutched tightly in her fist.

"Come on, Aunty Tomoyo," the little girl urged, "Movie's about to start."

Tomoyo grinned down at the girl.

"I'm coming."

"You're watching a movie?" Eriol asked.

"No, I'm in a cinema for the wonderful food," Tomoyo told him impishly.

Eriol laughed.

"Silly of me to ask. What movie are you watching?" he asked.

"Spirited Away!" Lily said happily.

Eriol blinked.

"Never heard of it," he said.

Tomoyo shrugged.

"It's a Japanese movie," she explained.

"Come on, Aunty Tomoyo," Lily sighed.

"Coming Lily," Tomoyo turned to Eriol, "Well, good to see you again. I've got to go."

"Is that your niece?" Eriol asked curious.

"No, I'm babysitting for a friend," Tomoyo lied a little.

"Well... in that case. Need any help in looking after her?" Eriol sent her a flirtatious grin.

Tomoyo flushed again.

"Why not?" she said keeping her tone light.

Lily began running across the lobby laughing happily as two smiling adults followed her.

Almost automatically, Eriol grabbed Tomoyo's hand and held it tightly grinning at her. Tomoyo blushed but grinned back enjoying the contact between them.

"Why do you keep popping up all the time?" Tomoyo asked him curiously, "it's like you keep stalking me."

"Yeah, it seems like it doesn't it?" Eriol asked, "What would you do if you find out I was stalking you?"

Tomoyo laughed hearing his teasing voice.

"As long as you're the stalker..."

She had no idea how right she was.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Well, this chapter turned out longer than I expected so I didn't put in as much as I thought I was able to maybe I shouldn't have put in so much fluff... anyway REVIEW!

Next chapter:

Sakura continues to party at her reunion and comes face to face with her old enemy. Meiling and Marcus enjoy each others company as Eriol and Tomoyo enjoy their semi-date at the movies. But what happens when Rika strikes once again? And who is her next target? And prepare yourself for an outraged Angel when Sakura receives a horrible shock in... _Seeing Red._

A/Note: I got a lot of reviews asking about Marcus's age. Well, here is a brief history on Meiling's love interest:

He first met up with Lily's mother in high school and quickly became a couple. They graduated at Marcus Flaron went to the law school.

After he graduated the two got married and Marcus went to work with Crell's Partners.

A year after their marriage, Lily is born and Marcus exposes Crell's Partners.

In a blotched up assassination attempt on Marcus, his wife is killed and Marcus flees.

So doing a bit of simple mathematics Marcus is only around 25 and Meiling is around 22. So as you can see there is no huge age difference at all. Marcus's history will be later explored in more detail in another chapter.

And once again my pathetic Mandarin comes under fire, oops I might have made a mistake naming the first book (Fei Lao Shi) but the way I translated that is using the Cantonese phrased for lion and translating that into Mandarin. As far as I can tell both Lao Shi and Shi Zi are the same, if not I'm very, very sorry!


	11. Seeing Red

Sorry! Sorry! Sorry, for the long delay but finally it is here Chapter 10!! Yay!! I hit double digits and thanks for all the lovely reviews, thank you! Thank you!

Disclaimer: I wish I owe CCS and Charlie's Angel but I don't.

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 10: Seeing Red**

Marcus grinned down at Meiling and hugged her tightly.

"Wow," he said.

"Wow," she agreed.

Without thinking their faces inched closer together again and they kissed once more.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Diana giggled helplessly as Sakura relayed their encounter with Belinda back to Chelsea and Zachary.

"I can still picture the look on her face when... whe... when..." Diana managed to sputter before breaking down into a helpless fit of laughter.

Chelsea laughed along with her as well as Sakura smiled coolly at them and sipped her drink.

"Well, you certainly have changed," Zachary noted.

"Thank you," Sakura grinned at him.

"You look great!" Chelsea beamed at her.

Sakura smiled and nodded.

"Of course I do," she said smugly, "So do you."

Chelsea laughed as Diana looked around the room. Seeing Belinda scowling at them from the corner of the nightclub, she smirked before turning back to her friends. Her ears pricked up as Zachary asked Sakura a question.

"So what do you do now?" he asked curiously.

"Me?" Sakura blinked at him.

There was a slight pause.

"I'm a stripper," she said seriously.

Everybody gaped at her. Sakura grinned impishly before sipping her drink.

"I'm joking for gods sake!" she laughed, "So what do you guys do?"

"Lawyer," Diana said proudly.

Sakura beamed at her.

"Congratulations!" she squealed pulling her friend into a hug, "I knew you would make it someday!"

"Hey, what about me? Aren't I important?" Zachary asked teasingly.

Sakura turned to him.

"Of course you are," she grinned at him, "What do you do?"

Chelsea beamed up lovingly at her husband.

"He's one of the rising stars in an international corporation," she told them proudly.

Zachary blushed as Diana and Sakura giggled.

"What corporation?" Sakura asked.

"You probably haven't heard of it," Zachary told them, "I work for Spinnel Corporation. It's a business company."

Diana wasn't quite sure but she was certain that Sakura seemed to freeze for a while when she heard the name of Zachary's company. The moment passed and Sakura smiled at him before teasing him gently about his job.

"Come on let's hit the dance floor," she grinned at Chelsea and Diana.

"I don't know..." Chelsea began.

Zachary grinned at her and hugged her around the waist leading his wife onto the dance floor as the other two girls followed. Diana grinned hearing the whistles of approval as Sakura began dancing again.

She grinned at her friend as she began dancing as well. Suddenly she blinked realizing something.

Why didn't Sakura tell us what she does for a living? she wondered.

Her instincts told her that Sakura was hitting something.

But what?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lily absently stuffed a handful of popcorn into her mouth and chewed slowly her eyes glued onto the movie screen oblivious to her surroundings.

Tomoyo grinned at the little girl before focusing her attention up onto the screen trying desperately to ignore the man sitting beside her who was obviously staring at her instead of the screen.

She fidgeted nervously as Eriol continued to stare at her.

"Lily, pass the popcorn," she whispered to the little girl sitting beside her.

Absently Lily passed the box as Tomoyo suddenly became very interested in the way that the butter was soaking through the cardboard. Nervously she sneaked a glance at Eriol who continued to look at her.

"Want popcorn?" she whispered shoving the box at him hoping to stop him from staring.

"No thanks," he whispered back.

Silence reigned again between them, she tried to distract herself by staring up at the screen but somehow the normally soothing antics of anime characters did little to distract her from the man sitting beside her.

She shifted uncomfortably and shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth wishing that Eriol would stop looking at her like that.

Like you're the most beautiful woman on earth? a little voice inside her head asked suddenly.

Well, it's unnerving Tomoyo told the voice.

Rightttttt... the voice drawled That's why you feel flattered and embarrassed like a schoolgirl..

Shut up Tomoyo firmly told the voice.

Fine the voice snapped.

Tomoyo thought she heard the sound of a door swinging shut and to her immense relief the voice was no more.

"Why am I talking to myself?" she wondered.

"What?" Eriol asked.

"Nothing," Tomoyo whispered back.

Tomoyo fidgeted nervously again and peered up at the screen. She glanced at her watch and sighed.

One more hour to go...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Zachary smiled at his wife's antics as she danced beside him, winking at her husband. Looking past his wife's shoulders he saw Sakura and Diana, the latter groaning as more men flocked around the auburn-haired girl who seemed oblivious to her admirers.

"Well, Cherry seems to be enjoying herself," Chelsea grinned as a slow romantic love song came on.

"Care to dance?" Zachary asked her with a smile.

"I'd love to."

Chelsea leaned against her husband as they swayed to the music. Sakura and Diana by now had moved off the dance floor and walked over to the bar for another drink. They were laughing at something Diana had said as Sakura grinned brightly as the bartender getting his attention.

"It's Sakura now," Zachary reminded her gently.

"Yeah, I forgot," Chelsea continued to watch their two friends as Sakura chatted to the bartender as Diana looked on with a small smirk on her face.

"She's changed," Zachary commented.

Chelsea nodded.

"And yet she's still the same," she noted.

Zachary smiled at her as the couple continued to dance. Chelsea's eyes drifted over to the doorway and she stiffened.

"Honey, what is it?" Zachary asked concerned.

Chelsea looked at him and glared towards the door.

"Dan," she spat.

Diana looked up casually and stiffened seeing who was now walking into the bar.

"Dan..." she growled.

Sakura looked at her confused.

"Did you say something?" she asked curiously.

Diana pasted a smile onto her face and shook her head. Sakura shrugged and continued chatting to the man sitting next to her who was having slight problems actually participating in the conversation since he was staring at her so much.

Dan... how dare you come! You stupid... Diana cursed viciously in her head as she glared at the tall, blonde-haired man standing in the doorway who was sending arrogant grins at everyone as a willowy, blonde-haired girl wearing a skimpy mini-skirt, who was obviously his date, clung to his arms.

Dan Williams, star quarterback of the Los Angeles High School Football Team of 1998.

Dan Williams, the French hunk with blonde hair, blues eyes and perfect white teeth.

Dan Williams, the breaker of hearts and the object of every high school girl's inner fantasies.

Dan Williams, the most popular guy in school

Dan Williams, the arrogant, heartless tormentor of the so-called 'nerds' and 'geeks'.

Dan Williams who took it upon himself to make Sakura's time at school a living hell.

Dan Williams, Sakura's arch nemesis.

"God damn son of a..." Diana whispered.

The last time she had heard of Dan, he a CIA agent or something who was working for the government on some top-secret case. And she'd only come across this little bit of information when she was examining some government files that had been related to one of her cases.

Mentally she rolled her eyes. Knowing Dan, he probably loved being a CIA agent, probably thought he was James Bond or something...

"Loser," she muttered rolling her eyes.

Sakura flashed a final grin at the man she was talking to and turned back to Diana.

"Loser?" she echoed, "Who's a loser?"

"It's nothing," Diana reassured her with a small smile.

Sakura looked at her strangely and smiles seeing Zachary twirl Chelsea around on the dance floor.

"I'm jealous," she announced.

"Of what?" Diana frowned.

Sakura was beautiful and definitely had a lot of admirers why would she be jealous of anyone?

"Well, Chelsea and Zachary have each other and what do I have?" Sakura answered her own question, "Absolutely no one."

Diana sighed along with her friend.

"I know how you feel," she commented, "Alone and no one in my horizon."

Sakura winked at her.

"How about us two spinsters go check out the cute guys hanging around the dance floor?" she grinned devilishly.

Diana laughed as grabbed her friend's hands.

"Well, if you put it like that..."

The two girls weaved around the busy club and walked onto the dance floor totally oblivious to the fact that a pair of amber eyes that were staring straight at Sakura in devilish glee.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling laughed as Marcus nuzzled her neck. The two were seating on the couch by now and had been doing so for the last two hours as they chatted about random things trying to get to know each other better.

"So let me get this straight," Marcus told her amusement dancing in his eyes, "Tomoyo does all the computer work, Sakura flirts with the guards and you beat up anybody that gets in the way?'

Meiling grinned at him.

"If you put it that way, it seems so easy," she teased.  
Marcus looked at her carefully.

"Isn't it?" he asked.

Meiling shook her head, the amusement in her ruby eyes fading.

"No," she said softly.

She continued to stare off into the empty space lost in her own thoughts and memories until Marcus suddenly hugged her.

"What is it?" he asked.

Meiling bit her lip and looked up at him hesitantly.

"It's not always easy, there has been a few times when things went wrong," Meiling shuddered, "the last time thing went really wrong, I got shot in the stomach."

Marcus looked at her in shock.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm alive and here, aren't I?" Meiling asked.

She grinned at him as Marcus smiled crookedly.

"Yeah," his tone suddenly became teasing, "Do you want me to have a look at it?"

As he said this he slipped his hand beneath her shirt.

"When did you become a doctor?" Meiling asked giggling, "I thought you were a lawyer."

"Whoops, my mistake," Marcus smirked.

The two laughed together before silencing each other's laughter with a deep, emotion-filled kiss.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lily chattered endlessly not really caring that nobody was talking to her. The little girl skipped beside Tomoyo who was holding her hands tightly making sure she didn't run off into the crowd. Beside them Eriol walked along lost in his own thoughts.

He knew he shouldn't have come but he had been following her again staking out her house when he saw her and that other girl along with a man and a little girl walking into the house. A little later the little girl and Tomoyo had walked out again almost without thinking he had impulsively followed them.

Eriol smiled softly to himself thinking how beautiful she had looked, sitting in the dimness of the cinema with the light from the screen highlighting the silkiness of her hair and skin. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.

You're supposed to kill her not love her! he scolded himself.

But ever since that kiss in that nightclub...

Eriol shook himself and wondered why he was bothering to stalk Tomoyo Daidouji, shouldn't he just kill her and collect his money? That's what he usually did.

But this woman is different. She's dangerous. It would be foolish to try and kill her without finding more about her his mind tried to justify what he was doing.

But his heart knew the truth.

He, Eriol Hiragizawa, the cold-blooded, calculating assassin had fallen in love with his quarry, Tomoyo Daidouji.

Damn it.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Uh oh... Diana winced seeing who was approaching them.

She gestured frantically to Zachary and Chelsea, Zachary looked up and grimaced seeing who it was. Sakura who had her back to the approaching person was oblivious to what was going on.

Chelsea looked around trying to figure out a plan quickly, her eyes suddenly lit up as she saw something but by then it was too late...

"Cherry," an arrogant voice said somewhat too loudly.

Sakura whirled around and looked up seeing who it was.

"Oh, it's you," with that she turned back around to Diana.

Taking one look at Dan, Diana could tell that he was slightly drunk judging by his flush cheeks and the slightly dazed look in his eyes.

"Hey, you look at me when I'm talking to you!" Dan snarled grabbing Sakura's arm and yanking her to him.

Sakura sent the drunken man a dirty look and yanked herself out of his grip.

"I don't think so," she said coldly, "Come on Diana, let's go."

Before Diana could respond Sakura sent one last furious glare at Dan who smiled foolishly and stormed off. Diana quickly followed.

"She likes me," Dan slurred with an arrogant smirk on his face.

Chelsea growled under her breath and would have done something drastic if Zachary hadn't held her back.

Too bad Dan was too drunk to realise that Sakura didn't feel the same way.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"I. Don't. Believe. Him," Sakura spat plonking herself down onto one of the stools, "That arrogant... pig!"

Sakura gestured for the barkeeper to fix her a drink as Diana arched an eyebrow seeing her friend's explosive reaction. In high school, Sakura had take all of Dan's teasing and tormenting in meek silence never daring to stand up for herself and go up against the awesome might of Dan Williams, the prince of Los Angeles High School.

But now...

She looked ready to beat him into a bloody pulp.

"Sakura, calm down. He didn't do anything..." Diana paused and added, "That was too bad."

Sakura shot her an incredulous look.

"Too bad?!" she asked.

Diana shrugged.

"Compared to the others things he has done to you..." she trailed off.

Sakura nodded sadly as the barkeeper set down a drink in front of her.

"You're right," she took a deep breath, "But I'm not the same anymore. I'm not going to just stand there and let him make fun of me again. I'm not!"

She punctuated her sentence by swallowing half of her drink before setting her glass down and glared at Dan who was now dancing with his blonde girlfriend.

"He touches me again and there'll be hell to pay."

Diana looked at her friend's angrily face and half-wished that Dan would try something.

She had a feeling if he did, he would spend the rest of the night in a hospital bed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo fidgeted nervously with her straw as she glanced around the small ice-cream shop trying to find something to distract her. Lily sat beside her, happily working her way through an ice-cream sundae. Eriol sat across from them studying Tomoyo intently, his own milkshake standing forgotten on the table between them.

"So... how's your business going?" Tomoyo asked breaking the silence.

"Business?" Eriol asked blinking in confusion.

Tomoyo stared at him.

"You are a businessmen... aren't you?"

Eriol frowned for a minute before remembering the lie he had told her last time. The confusion slipped away from his face to be replaced by a charming smile.

"Of course, of course!" he said with false cheerfulness, secretly congratulating himself for another multi-awarding winning performance, "Sorry, it's been such a long time since I've worked and I've been enjoying my holiday."

"Not working?" Tomoyo asked puzzled, "It's everything okay?"

"Yes of course," Eriol's smile remained on his face, "It's just that I've been working for the company for well over eight years and I decided I needed a short break."

"Oh," Tomoyo fell silent again.

Lily remained oblivious to her Aunt Tomoyo's nervousness and continued to spoon ice cream into her mouth giggling in pleasure as she licked her spoon clean. Tomoyo grinned at the little girl, glad for the distraction.

"Who is she?" Eriol asked curiously looking at Lily, "Is she your niece?"

Tomoyo smiled affectionately at the little girl and stroked her hair gently.

"No, her father is a good friend of mine," she smiled wickedly thinking of Meiling and Marcus.

Meiling had been furious when Tomoyo had suggested taking Lily out to the movies knowing full well that Meiling had to stay behind _alone _with Marcus in order to stave off any further possible attacks. Tomoyo hid a snigger as she pictured Meiling's angry glare in her mind's eye.

"Are you just friends?" Eriol asked half-dreading the answer.

Eriol wondered briefly why he even cared. But even he knew what was that burning sensation overpowering his body and mind, it was jealousy. Nobody had the right to touch his Tomoyo aside from...

Wait a minute...

_His?! _

Tomoyo flushed realising he must have misinterpreted her wicked smile.

"No! No! No, we're just friends," she stammered hot and bothered.

Eriol had the grace to blush as well and put a comforting hand over hers. Looking into her lavender eyes, he smiled charmingly.

"I'm glad."

"Excuse me?" Tomoyo asked puzzled.

By now Lily was watching the two adults intently.

"I'm glad you're just friends," Eriol sent her a smile chocked full of flirty goodness.

Tomoyo stared at him for a while not understanding what he was getting at. Then it hit her.

"Oh..." she blushed brightly, "Oh."

"You're cute when you blush, you know that?" Eriol asked with a teasing grin.

Tomoyo's blush deepened.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

For the first time in their lives, they were doing exactly the same thing. For the first time in their lives, they agreed on one matter.

Dan Williams was a scumbag.

Sakura glared at him, contempt causing her emerald eyes to almost glow in the dim lights of the nightclub. If looks could kill Dan would have been rotting in the very bowels of hell.

Belinda glared at Dan hating the fact that he was dancing with his so-called girlfriend when he should have been dancing with _her_, the Prom-Queen of '98, the head of the cheerleaders that used to cheer him on at every game, his ex-girlfriend.

"Two-timing scum," she growled under her breath.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him as Dan glanced at her giving her a wicked wink. He grinned at her as Sakura gritted her teeth and resisted to urge to go up to him and reconfigure his face with a well-deserved punch.

"Chill, Sakura," Chelsea gripped her arm gently, "It's only Dan being Dan, no point in killing someone over it."

Sakura managed to smile at her old friend.

"I'll try," she promised with an impish grin.

Chelsea breathed a sigh of relief and thanked god that Sakura had calmed down slightly and was no longer plotting to kill or maim Dan. Diana sent Chelsea a grateful look and breathed a sigh of relief as well. Sakura reverted back to her normal cheerful self and continued to catch up with her old high school friends as Belinda who was still studying Dan decided to make her move.

"Hey, Danny," Belinda gave him her most brilliant smile using her old nickname for him.

Dan peered drunkenly at her and frowned in confusion.

"Wha... what? Wh... who?" he slurred swaying on his feet slightly.

"It's Belinda," Belinda gritted her teeth as she sent a warning glare at Dan's blond girlfriend daring her to say a word.

Wisely the girl didn't say anything.

"Who?" Dan asked confused.

"Your old girlfriend. Hello? Remember me?" Belinda growled.

Dan blinked in confusion and peered at her.

"Bel... Belinda?" he asked himself.

Suddenly he laughed.

"Oh, the blonde cow that used to follow me around like a lovesick puppy!"

His girlfriend sniggered as Belinda flushed and gritted her teeth.

"Yes, it's me," she growled.

Seeing that Dan didn't recognise that she was Belinda, she sighed and tried a different tact.

"I see you were talking with Cherry," Belinda said the word Cherry like it had a bitter taste to it.

"Yeah, she was that geek who I used to tease and torment," Dan laughed loudly, "Man, she's a vixen now! I mean, look at her body!"

Chelsea froze as Diana grimaced.

They exchanged worried glances.

"Uh oh," Chelsea murmured.

Zachary who was standing on the other side of the club talking to some of his old friends also winced slightly hearing Dan's drunken outburst.

Sakura gritted her teeth and began seeing red... literally. She glared at Dan with vicious hatred burning in her eyes as her hand slowly slid across the bar groping for a weapon of some kind.

"Okay," Diana grabbed Sakura's arm, "Let's go outside and calm down before you get charged with murder number one."

Against the auburn-haired girls protests, Diana dragged her outside as Chelsea gestured wildly for her husband.

Unfortunately her waves caught Dan's attention. With a burst of laughter, he strode across the bar pushing everybody out of his way.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded directing his question to Sakura.

Sakura remained silent seething inwardly as Diana shot her a warning look.

"Answer me!" Dan roared.

"We're going outside," Diana answered for Sakura as she once again tried to drag Sakura outside.

"Hey, nobody goes until I say so!" Dan yelled.

"And why is that so?" Sakura growled, the threat in her voice was unmistakable.

Dan drew himself up.

"Because I'm a CIA agent!" he boasted.

Sakura raised a cool eyebrow.

"Is that the part when I'm supposed to go 'Ooooo..." and swoon?" Sakura asked.

By that time, the whole club went silent as everybody watched the confrontation between High School prince, Dan Williams and school outcast, Cherry/Sakura.

"Don't you dare mock me!" he growled surging forwards.

He raised his hands to slap her. Sakura shoved Diana out of the way and grabbed his hands and twisting into his body, threw him over her shoulders.

She grinned in satisfaction as Dan hit the ground heavily and lay there gasping for breath.

"CIA agents, you're all the same... for god's sake learn some hand-to-hand combat," Sakura clucked her tongue and chuckled slightly, "Come on Di, let's go."

With that she helped her friend up and left the club as somebody began sniggering in the crowd. Soon everybody began laughing and pointing at the winded Dan.

Dan growled in anger and jumped to his feet, his blonde girlfriend shook her head in disgust and left as Dan began roaring about how he would get Cherry back for this.

Nobody believed a word he said.

Not even him.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Umm... Sakura? Do you want to talk?" Diana asked her silent friend as they walked out their door

"That... that..." Sakura began hesitantly.

Diana waited patiently.

"Felt good!"

"What?!" Diana yelped looking at her friend in shock.

Sakura grinned at her.

"I got payback for all those years of torment," Sakura sighed and smiled happily, "Damn, payback feels good!"

Diana shook her head and changed the subject.

"So what do you want to do? I don't imagine you would want to go back in there," Diana gestured towards the door.

"You're right," Sakura yawned, "Well, I'm tried and I just came back from a trip so I guess I'll go home and sleep."

Sakura reached into her pockets and got out her car keys as she began to walk off she was stopped as Diana grabbed her hand.

"Do you think that's wise?" Diana asked.

Sakura looked at her friend, confused.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked puzzled.

Diana gave her a look.

"I mean you've been drinking," Diana informed her, "I don't think you should be driving."

Sakura sighed.

"Great, how do I get home then?" Sakura asked knowing her friend would refuse to budge.

Diana smiled.

"I take you home."

"Are you sure you want to?"

"Why not? What are friends for anyway?" Diana asked with a small smile.

Sakura grinned back at her.

"Let's go then."

"Wow, you live there?" Diana asked amazed as she drove down the desolate street, "it's a pretty expensive place."

Sakura merely nodded as she glanced out the windows.

"Hmmm... how can you live there with your stripper salary?" Diana asked with a wicked grin.

Sakura grinned back just as wickedly.

"I'm very good at what I do," she said seriously.

There was a slight pause before both of them dissolved into fits if helpless laughter.

"Seriously, what do you do?" Diana asked.

Once again fate saved Sakura from answering as a black car came screeching out from the shadows and smashed into them.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo smiled to herself as she touched her lips gently remembering the soft kiss they had shared before Eriol had left stating that he had to go home early.

Lily skipped happily in front of her along the footpath as Tomoyo followed. Reaching her front door, Tomoyo unlocked it and pushed it open and could feel a devilish grin spread across the face as she stood there silently observing the scene spread out in front of her.

Marcus Flaron and Meiling Rae were curled up against each other on the couch sharing a very passionate looking kiss.

Lily frowned in confusion and bounded up to her father and her Aunt Meiling.

"Daddy? What are you doing?" she asked confused.

The look on both of their faces was priceless.

"You're back," Marcus said slowly his eyes flicking from Lily to Tomoyo.

"Hi," Tomoyo said with a wicked grin, "Don't mind us, please continue."

Meiling sent her an infamous death glare, which Tomoyo ignored.

"So how was the movie?" Marcus asked seating up slightly.

"We watched Spirited Away!!" Lily said excitedly, "And we ate popcorn and ice-cream!"

"Jeez, she spoiled you didn't she?" Marcus asked with a raise-eyebrow.

Tomoyo smiled back innocently as Lily continued to jump up and down in excitement.

"And then Aunty Tomoyo kissed this blue-haired man!!" Lily continued.

Tomoyo glared at Lily as Meiling's face lit up with a devilish grin.

"Ooo... how is this new guy of yours?" she asked as Tomoyo sighed.

"Okay! Okay! Truce!" Tomoyo held up her hands in surrender.

"Fine," Meiling answered with a grin.

Marcus looked at the clock and turned back to his daughter.

"Come on, it's time for bed," he said getting up.

Lily began pouting.

"Awwww... daddy..." she began.

"Nice try with the cute eyes," Marcus said with a smile, "But you're going to bed."

"The spare room is the second right," Tomoyo called after them cheerfully.

She paused for a minute.

"Meiling's room is on the left," she added wickedly.

"TOMOYO!" Meiling yelled outraged.

"What?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura opened her eyes and looked around in confusion.

"Wha... what?" she looked to her left and blanched seeing Diana slumped up against the window.

The back of the car was a total mess with the front of the other car sticking in through the now missing door. With a grimace, Sakura push the door open and stumbled outside.

"Diana?" Sakura whispered, "Diana?"

"Sakura?" Diana opened her eyes slowly.

"Call an ambulance," Sakura told her, "I'll check on the other driver."

Diana nodded wearily and began fishing for her mobile phone. Sakura limped around the car and winced seeing the damage.

The front of the other car was crumpled as it some massive giant had stopped onto it. The windshield had shattered leaving chips of broken glass to capture the light of the nearby street lamp. The back of Diana's car had been crushed by the collision but luckily neither of them had been hurt.

But the other driver...

Sakura stumbled to the other car and peered inside.

Nobody.

"What the?!" Sakura looked around in confusion.

"CRUNCH!"

Instincts took over as Sakura ducked, the person who had been trying to sneak up behind her attacked, attempting to punch her in the back of her head. The fist smashed through the car's windows as Sakura saw something glinting the street lamp's flickering light.

Claws. Long, wicked metal claws.

"Rika!" Sakura whirled around and punched the woman heavily in the stomach.

The woman stumbled backwards as Sakura flipped onto her feet. Diana who was still in the car gasped seeing the blank-eyed woman who was attacking her friend.

"SAKURA!" Diana yelled.

She punched in some numbers on her mobile phone and began talking frantically as Sakura and Rika sparred.

Rika's metal claws sliced the air as Sakura leapt backwards narrowly missing the attack. She launched a quick volley and kicks and punches driving Rika back only to be tagged on the arm. Sakura grimaced as blood dripped down the long scratch on her arm but ignored the pain opting instead to kick Rika in the chest.

The assassin stumbled backwards but recovered quickly grabbing Sakura's foot and dumping her onto the ground. Sakura landed heavily as Rika raised her arm and brought it down, the claws ready and eager to impale her.

Sakura rolled out of the way just in time as the claws hit the pavement making a loud clang as the hard asphalt deflected the metal.

Sakura kicked at Rika's shoulders and leapt up following up with a roundhouse punch to Rika's head.

Rika grabbed her arm and drove her backwards into the car. She pinned Sakura to the side of the car and stare at her with her blank brown eyes.

"Damn it!" Sakura swore as she tried to break free but Rika's iron hard grip refused to budge.

Rika brought her arm up and placed the tip of her metal claws against Sakura's throat.

Sakura closed her eyes and braced herself to feel those wicked claws sink into her neck, she prepared herself for the pain.

"FREEZE!"

What the?

Sakura's eyes flew open and she let out a gasp of relief as she saw a police car parked behind them. Two cops had their guns out and pointed at Rika's back.

"Drop her!" one of them commanded.

Rika looked at them with her blank eyes and let go of Sakura. Sakura sank down to the ground shaking visibly as she thanked god for saving her.

"FREEZE!" one of the policemen yelled.

Rika lunged at him as the gun went off. The bullet shrieked through the air and slammed into Rika's stomach. The assassin's mouth opened in a silent scream as the woman clutched her stomach trying to stop the flow of the blood. With one final last stare at them she ran off into the night vanishing into the shadows.

"Are you alright?" one of the policemen asked running up to her.

Sakura nodded.

"I'm fine," she rasped.

"Who was she?" he questioned.

Sakura shook her head and lied.

"I don't know."

Diana appeared behind the policeman and stared at Sakura in horror.

"You're lucky we were in the area," one of the policemen commented.

"Thanks," Sakura said weakly.

She struggled to her feet as the policeman went off to join his partner. Diana continued to stare at her in shock: she had seen the whole fight.

"What are you?" she murmured.

Sakura had no answer for her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

It was a little after midnight before Sakura stumbled home. After making sure she aw alright the medics at the scene allowed her to go home. Diana was being treated at the hospital for minor cuts and bruises and shock.

Sakura shuddered remembering Diana's question.

_'What are you?' _she had murmured in shock.

Sakura shoved that memory into the back of her and made it to her door. It was slightly open frowning in confusion Sakura pushed it fully open and peered inside.

"What the?" she murmured.

The inside it was a mess, it looked as if a struggle had occurred in there. Tables were overturn, chairs were lying on the ground and one of the windows had been smashed allowing a cool breeze to flow into the room.

"Dad?" Sakura yelled frantically, "DAD?"

No answer.

"Daddy?" Sakura murmured stumbling inside.

She limped over to the spare room and peered inside, here the bed had a huge rip in it and the table had been overturned. A stack of photos lay on the ground, seeing it Sakura gasped and limped over to it looking through them.

They were the photos of the relics at her dad's latest archaeological dig.

The ones with the book in it but... but... that was at the Angel's headquarters right now.

Sakura gritted her teeth.

"Spinnel..." she growled.

The Corporation must have found out about her father and his connection to the book. They had kidnapped him.

She clenched her fists as a murderous rage invaded her mind.

She was beyond angry.

She was beyond furious.

A red mist seemed to colour everything she saw, as her emerald eyes seemed to burn with some kind of demonic light.

She was beyond outrage.

She was seeing red.

Someone had to pay.

Someone had to die.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Another cliffhanger!! Don't you just hate me?

Next chapter:

Sakura infiltrates Spinnel Corporation in order to find out the whereabouts of her father as Tomoyo and Meiling find out what happened. As the two girls race to stop Sakura's anger-fuelled rampage, Sakura comes face to face with Lilia. But finally it is the climatic confrontation between Sakura and her father's kidnapper that shakes her to the core. Find out what happens next in... _No mercy_

A/Notes: Sorry, once again for the long delay for this chapter but I had a mild case of writer's block but hopefully this chapter didn't ended up that bad.

And to finish off, both Diana and Dan were characters created by winners of the Syaoran's Angels competition, prepare yourself for another character very, very soon.


	12. No mercy

Thank you to all my loyal reviewers! And sorry, for the late update, you know how it goes. Homework, homework, homework...

Anyway, I will not update until I get another 20 reviews!! (That should buy me some time)

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 11: No mercy**

Tomoyo smirked as the strange device she held in her hand beeped again loudly. With a grin, she ran her hand across the desk's surface until she felt a strange cold metallic lump. Examining the lump closely she found a small metal object about the size of a nail's head embedded into the desk's mahogany surface. She pried it free and held it up triumphantly examining it closely in the light before dropping it down onto the carpeted floor and crushing it with her foot.

"I think that's the last one," Tomoyo said switching off the device she held in her hands.

Behind her Meiling grunted something intelligible as she continued to pace around the room.

"Meiling?" Tomoyo asked concerned, "All the bugs and hidden microphones Spinnel Corporation hid in here are gone."

Silence.

"Meiling? Hey, Meiling!"

"What?" Meiling asked blinking at her in confusion.

Tomoyo sighed.

"Look, Sakura is probably just sleeping off last night's reunion party," Tomoyo smirked, "You know how those things are. You meet up with your old friends and have a few drinks before flirting with all the cute guys."

Meiling finally allowed a small smile to chase the worried look from her face.

"Yeah, she's probably nursing a hangover by now," Meiling flashed Tomoyo a small grin but her ruby eyes remained worried.

Plonking themselves down onto the leather couch, Tomoyo leaned over and pressed one of the instant speed-dial buttons located on a phone sitting on the small coffee table standing in front of them.

With a sputter and crackle, the cream-coloured speaker box sitting on the mahogany desk opposite them came to life.

"Good morning Angels," Syaoran greeted.

"Good morning Syaoran!" the girls replied cheerfully.

There was a slight pause on the other line.

"I'm pretty sure I hear only two voices..." there was another slight pause, "Where's Sakura?"

Tomoyo smirked.

"Sakura? She's sleeping off a reunion party she just had."

"Oh," Syaoran's voice turned serious again, "Angels congratulations on rescuing Marcus Flaron and his daughter. I'm currently arranging for him to go under Witness Relocation Program again."

Meiling shifted uncomfortably as she thought about Marcus moving away from her. She shuddered but smiled slightly at Tomoyo patted her knee sympathetically.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Tomoyo asked, "I mean, last time Marcus was exposed and his daughter was kidnapped."

"I'm making sure that never happens again," Syaoran told her.

Meiling spoke up.

"There's been a giant leak in our information," she told him.

"What?!" Syaoran asked surprised.

"You know Derrick?" Tomoyo asked, "He was killed before we arrived on the Gold Coast. Some creep from Spinnel Corporation took his place and lured us into a trap."

Syaoran was silent for a while as he digested that piece of information.

"Damn," he growled rage appearing in his voice, "Are you Angels alright? Do you know how this leak occurred?"

Both girls remained silent for a while. Meiling's ruby eyes seemed to burn with some kind of unholy light as she clenched her fists her rage almost tangible. Tomoyo's eyes became as cold and hard as a slab of rock.

"Angels?"

"Spinnel Corporation. They bugged this office," Tomoyo told him with as much calm as she could muster, "We got rid of them today."

"Bugged?" Syaoran sighed, "Do you think any other vital information got leaked?"

Meiling shook her head.

"Don't think so."

Syaoran sighed again.

"Just to make sure, Tomoyo I want you to try and hack into police files and Spinnel Corporation try to find out if any other information was leaked."

Tomoyo nodded her head.

"I'm on it," she said.

"Meiling?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes?"

"There has been a recent kidnapping right here in Los Angeles. I want you to go check it out I think there is more than meets the eye," Syaoran told her, "Use your fake FBI badge and go infiltrate the crime scene try to out the motive behind the kidnapping, its located at the man's house at..."

He gave Meiling the address and directions as the Asian Angel nodded.

"Good luck and Angels?"

"Yes, Syaoran?"

"Be careful Spinnel Corporation is even more powerful than I had guessed before, bye Angels."

"Bye, Syaoran."

The light on the speaker box went dead as both girls rose.  
"I'm going up to my room," Tomoyo told her walking towards the door.

Within the headquarters each Angel had her own separate room where they sometimes slept, they also kept some of their equipment in their rooms as well. Meiling nodded and also went upstairs to her room to change into her pseudo uniform.

Tomoyo opened the door to her room and plonked herself down onto a chair inside and stared at the blank computer screen standing in front of her as she waited for it to boot up. As the screen flickered to life, Tomoyo shoved all her thoughts into the back of her head and concentrated on the task at hand.

What other information did Spinnel Corporation find out from them?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura carefully put the table upright again gingerly stepping over the broken glass littering the floor.

She worked mechanically trying to stop the random thoughts that came into her head. Her father was gone, kidnapped by Spinnel Corporation.

She knew it was them. Who else could it have been? They wanted the location of the second book and they knew Fujitaka had that information.

But how?

How did them find out?

Her mind flew back to something Hayden had told her just before he had died.

_"How did you know we were here?" she had demanded._

_"Easy, we bugged your headquarters."_

Spinnel. Sakura gritted her teeth. They were going to pay for what they did. By god they were going to pay. Stretching her sore back she saw it was now daytime, she had been working diligently throughout the whole night fixing up her apartment as she prepared herself for what was ahead.

She was going to storm Spinnel Corporation, alone. She was going on a solo mission against the awesome might of the corrupted company.

She was going to make them give back her dad.

No matter what she had to do.

"No mercy."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling stepped out from her car and calmly strolled up to the yellow 'Do not cross' police crime-scene tape. A policeman stepped in front of her and held out his hands halting her.

"Sorry marm but this is a crime scene. Only authorised personnel is allowed through," he told her eyeing her dull brown suit.

"I'm Special Agent Mina Wilson of the FBI," Meiling said coolly flashing the man her badge, "I'm here to investigate the recent kidnapping."

"I didn't know that FBI were involved..." the man begun.

"Than check it if you want," Meiling told him coolly, bluffing, "But get out of my way otherwise your commander would get a word or two from my supervisor. And I can ensure you those words wouldn't be praises."

The policeman hesitated as Meiling looked at him coolly, a pair of sunglasses hiding her ruby eyes, as she waited patiently for his answer.

"Fine," he said, "Here you go marm."

He raised the tape as Meiling ducked under it and strolled into the small suburban house. She took off her sunglasses as she stepped out from the bright morning sun and entered the dimly lit hallway. She could dimly hear the sound of people talking and wandered into that general direction, as she walked down the hallway she took note of the many bookcases that lined the walls, each one packed with books.

She spotted an open door and walked through it entering the living room. Meiling blinked seeing the trio of police inside deep in conversation.

"Marm?" one inquired looking up, "How may we help you?"

Meiling nodded.

"I'm Special Agent Mina Wilson of the FBI," Meiling told them smoothly, "I'm here to investigate the recent kidnapping."

The policewoman who had spoken to her, nodded understandingly.

"Is there anything you want to know?" she asked.

"Yes, who exactly was kidnapped? I was given a file but I didn't have time to read it," Meiling lied convincingly.

The woman turned to one of the men who spoke up.

"We believe that the victim is Professor Haddock, who owns and lives in this house. We came around here about six in the morning and found there has been signs of forced entry and a small struggle in his bedroom," the police told her.

"Do you mind if I look in his bedroom?" Meiling asked.

"Not at all. It's the second door to the right," the man told her, "just don't touch anything until the forensics are through with it."

Meiling nodded and walked out of the room and back into the dimly lit hallway. She followed the man's direction and soon came to an open door. Careful not to touch the door, Meiling slipped inside and studied the mess inside.

One of the windows had been smashed and a beside table had been overturned. Meiling frowned seeing a stack of photos lying on the ground. Carefully picking through the broken glass, Meiling knelt down and studied the photos careful not to touch any of them.

"What the?" she murmured seeing a familiar photo.

Lying amongst the many photos was one she had seen before. Meiling closed her eyes and gasped as she realised where she had seen it.

Just before they had left for Australia, Sakura had shown them a picture. A picture of the second book.. the Book of the Hong Bao Shi Hu Die. Meiling looked down at the photo.

It was exactly the same photo.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura parked her car in the Spinnel Corporation underground car park and checked herself in the mirror one more time. Her blonde wig was in place and her contact lenses still covered her eyes. Satisfied she was well disguised, she peered into the back seat of her car, a large black blanket rested on the seat concealing her secret weapon.

Sakura took a deep breath and stepped out of her car. Strolling towards the elevator, she reminded herself once again to keep her cool, the last thing she wanted was to blow her cover before she could pull off her mission.

As she stepped into elevator, she took one last deep breath and prayed that she could pull this off.

She had to.

Her father's life depended on it.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo looked at Meiling worry evident in her eyes.

"Are you sure it's the exactly the same book?" Tomoyo asked.

Meiling sighed.

"How many ancient books with butterflies on them are there?" she asked her friend and fellow Angel.

Tomoyo stared off into space for a moment before turning back to her computer, she entered one of the many online databases she had and typed in something. A second later, a loud beep informed her that several matches had been found. The Japanese Angel clicked onto one of the files and scanned the text quickly.

"Professor Rupert Haddock," she read, "Professor of archaeology at Tokyo University before moving to America to work in the California State Museum of Science and Industry as head of the archaeology. A year ago, he went off to an archaeological dig, the location is vague but is believed to be located in... Asia."

Meiling blinked.

"Sakura's father. Didn't he go off to a dig as well?" Meiling asked.

Tomoyo looked at her sharply.

"Think the two are connected?"

Meiling shrugged.

"I don't know but I'm going to make sure."

She stood up and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Tomoyo called.

"I'm going to check on Sakura."

Tomoyo nodded.

"Okay."

As Meiling left Tomoyo looked at the file on her computer screen and sighed.

Things just kept getting more complicated by the second.

Why couldn't life be easy?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura plastered a fake smile onto her face as she pushed open the ebony door, which a golden plague reading 'Lilia Faren' screwed into place above the golden doorknob. Taking note of the expensive furniture decorating the room and the thick carpet on which she walked, she strolled up to the secretary's desk. The secretary was sitting at his desk typing something onto his computer, which Sakura noticed was one of the most advanced models on the market.

"Excuse me," she said with a fake accent, "I have an appointment with your employer."

The man looked up and sent her a charming smile.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Yes," Sakura smiled at him.

"What's your name?" the man asked.

"Yolane Heidrich," Sakura told him one of her many aliases.

The man began typing into his computer.

"I'm sorry, "he frowned, "you don't seem to have an appointment. Can I arrange one for you?"

Sakura smiled.

"Yes, can I come in this afternoon?" she asked.

"This afternoon?" the man checked his employer's schedule, "Yes, that will be fine."

He typed into the computer once more.

"And the purpose of your interview?" he asked looking up.

"This."

Sakura knocked her fist back and punched the man in the face. For a few seconds, the man blinked at her in confusion before pain flooded his senses and he slumped onto his desk, unconscious.

Knowing that a security camera was in the room, Sakura knew she had only ten minutes maximum to pull of her mission.

She sprinted around the desk and stopped in front of another ebony door located on the far wall. She jerked it open and walked inside.

The first thing Sakura noticed entering the room was the large ceiling to floor window located on the far wall, shifting her gaze downwards Sakura saw who she wanted. Sitting at a mahogany desk littered with files and papers, sat a brunette-haired woman. The woman looked up from her laptop and frowned seeing Sakura standing there.

"Who are you?" the woman asked bluntly.

"You know who I am," Sakura smirked strolling up to the desk.

"How did you get pass William?" the woman demanded standing up, "What the hell do you want?"

"What I want?" Sakura repeated.

She reached the desk.

"Revenge."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling unlocked Sakura's apartment with the spare key Sakura had given them. She stepped into the hallway and frowned seeing the broken glass that littered Sakura's lounge room.

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Meiling walked to Sakura's bedroom. She knocked gently on the door.

"Sakura?" she called.

Silence.

"Sakura, I'm coming in," Meiling called again.

After a few more seconds of silence, Meiling opened the door and peered inside. Sakura wasn't inside and the bed didn't even looked like it had been slept in. Meiling frowned in confusion.

Did Sakura stay over at a friend's house or something? Or something else had happened.

Meiling shook her head and moved over to the guest room. She stopped seeing the door was open.

She peered inside.

"Oh god," Meiling gasped.

The scene spread out before her was almost exactly like the one that had happened at Professor Haddock's house. There had been a struggle in here and lying on the ground were... the photos.

Meiling gritted her teeth.

She dug into her jacket pocket and fished out her mobile phone. Punching in the familiar numbers, she waited impatiently for the other person to pick up.

_'Hello?' _Tomoyo greeted.

"Tomoyo, it's me," Meiling told her tersely, "I'm at Sakura's place. There's been a struggle in here. Sakura is gone. Tomoyo..."

_'Yes?' _

"I think that Sakura's father has been kidnapped. The guest room is a mess. The photos are on the ground like at Haddock's place. The two are definitely connected."

Tomoyo swore.

_'Spinnel must have done this. They're after the second book. Damn,' _Tomoyo went silent for a few moments, _'Do you know where Sakura is?'_

"No, but if I know Sakura she's after her father."

_'You don't think...' _Tomoyo trailed off.

"She's at Spinnel Corporation building probably," Meiling closed her eyes and sighed, "Okay, I'll get back to the headquarters than we'll figure out what to do."

_'Fine, be careful,' _Tomoyo hung up as Meiling jammed the phone back into her pockets and ran out of the apartment quickly.

Hopefully Sakura hadn't been stupid enough to try and take on Spinnel on her own... hopefully.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

If Meiling was watching the scene developing within Lilia's office she would have swore at the top of her voice.

"What?' Lilia asked.

"Revenge," Sakura repeated.

Before the startled woman could react, Sakura vaulted over the desk and grabbed Lilia's collar slamming the woman down onto the hard wooden surface scattering paper everywhere.

"I know for damn sure you masterminded Hayden's death and now you've kidnapped my father," she growled.

"Haddock?" Lilia asked.

"No, Fujitaka Kinomoto," Sakura snapped.

"Oh, that stupid fool who was so kind to let us in," Lilia laughed.

Her laughter was cut off as Sakura tightened her grip on Lilia's collar effectively cutting off her breathing. A few seconds later, Sakura let go allowing Lilia to suck in a few grateful breaths of air.

"Where the hell is he?" Sakura asked dangerously.

"I don't know..." Lilia began.

This time Sakura kneed Lilia in the spine.

"I repeat, where the hell is he?"

Lilia managed to turn her head around and shivered seeing the rage in Sakura's eyes.

"What happens if I don't tell you?" Lilia challenged.

Sakura glared at her.

"Then you'll die," she said flatly.

Lilia gulped.

"He's in Hong Kong," Lilia told her.

"Be more precise," Sakura commanded.

"Okay, okay," Lilia gasped as Sakura began cutting off her air supply again, "He's held captive somewhere in Hong Kong. I don't know where exactly but it's on my computer."

"Find out," Sakura growled, "Now."

Sakura let Lilia go as the woman slowly turned back to her laptop. She typed quickly and a file came up.

"Print it out," Sakura commanded seeing a printer lying on the desk.

Lilia remained silent for a minute.

"NOW!" Sakura yelled grabbing the back of Lilia's neck.

Lilia hurriedly printed out the file. The printer jerked to life and soon produced a piece of paper with the location of Fujitaka Kinomoto on it. Sakura snatched up the paper and read it hurriedly.

She was so engrossed in her reading; she didn't notice Lilia slowly picking up her phone.

"Security!" Lilia screamed into her phone, "There's an intruder!"

Sakura swore and turned back to Lilia. Lilia smirked at her.

"You'll never get out of here," she said smugly, "The whole security force would be here in a few minutes."

To the Spinnel Corporation's employee's surprise, Sakura laughed.

"Oh, I'm not worried," Sakura told her, "What do you think they'll be worry about? One simple intruder or an explosion?"

"Huh?"

Sakura reached into her pocket and withdrew a small black box. Flicking the cover off, she showed Lilia the big red button that dominated the box surface.

"Boom," she murmured.

She hit the button.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Deep below Lilia's office in the underground carpark of Spinnel Corporation building, lying in Sakura's car's backseat, hidden by a large blanket, lay a bomb. As Sakura hit the button, the bomb whirled to life. The timer located on its side lit up counting down from three seconds.

3...

2...

1...

Detonation

The bomb exploded reducing Sakura's car to a puddle of molten metal. Giant concussive waves radiated out from the bomb shattering car windows and throwing the nearby cars into the air. A giant wall of fire burst into life reducing cars to burnt metal skeletons. Fire alarms burst into life but it was too late as large sheets of flames blackened the walls and fed on the cars.

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

As the fire rich some of the cars' fuel tanks, they exploded causing more devastation and gave birth to new fires.

The fire burnt out of control fed by its fuel of petrol, fabric and metal.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

High above the destruction, Sakura Kinomoto smirked.

"What do you have to say now?" Sakura smirked.

The building shook as the bomb went off. Lilia gaped at her.

"Well, what do you know?" Sakura asked looking at her watch, "Time for me to go."

"You'll never get out," Lilia spat, "You'll be caught before you can get out of the door."

"Who says I'm leaving by the door?" Sakura asked.

Before Lilia could speak, Sakura grabbed the woman's head and slammed her face into the desk. Lilia's body went limp as Sakura charged at the large window behind her.

The glass shattered as Sakura barrelled through. She stood for a second on the large balcony behind the window, overlooking the city below. Seeing the small waist-high fences, made out of the intricately shaped pieces of steel, surrounding the edges of the balcony Sakura smirked.

She ripped off her jacket revealing the strange harness she swore beneath. Coiled up into a roll and strapped onto her back was a long length of rope. Not just any rope, bungee rope. Sakura unrolled the elastic piece of rope and tied it securely threaded it through the gaps between steel fences, tying it securely. Sakura clipped the other end to her harness.

Without another thought, Sakura leapt onto the fence and jumped off into empty space.

She hurtled down the side of the building as her wig flew off. The ground came rushing up to her and just as she was about to hit the pavement and become a meat pancake, the rope jerked reaching its limit. After bouncing up and down in the air a few times, Sakura managed to unclip her the rope and fell the final metres down to the ground. Ignoring the strange glances people gave her as they walked past, Sakura leapt up and ran away as the sound of sirens filled the air.

It was definitely time for her to leave.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling opened Tomoyo's door and walked in.

"What took you so long?" Tomoyo asked.

"Traffic jam," Meiling shrugged.

It had taken her over an hour to get back after leaving Sakura's apartment. She had hoped by now Tomoyo had found out something and luckily the computer genius did not disappoint.

"Okay," Tomoyo began, "Do you want to the good or the bad news first?"

Meiling paused for a second.

"Bad."

Tomoyo sighed.

"Spinnel Corporation's carpark has just been blown up by a car bomb possibly planted by terrorists," Tomoyo snorted.

Meiling stared at her in disbelief.

"You don't think... Sakura..."

Tomoyo looked at her.

"Damn!" Meiling swore, "Jeez, even for me this is going overboard."

Tomoyo shrugged.

"Want the good now?"

"Yes, please."

"I know where Sakura is."

"What?!"

Tomoyo nodded.

"I managed to discover that a certain Cherry Avalon has bought direct flight tickets to Hong Kong," Tomoyo explained.

Meiling raised an eyebrow hearing her home country being brought up.

"Hong Kong?" she questioned, "Why would she go there?"

"I don't know," Tomoyo shrugged, "Maybe she found out something at Spinnel's."

"Well, one thing is for sure," Meiling began.

"What?"

"We're going to Hong Kong."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_A day later, location: Hong Kong_

Sakura stopped in front of the modest house located on the outskirts of one of Hong Kong's many busy cities. She checked the address again. She did not want to kick down any doors and charge in only to find out she was raiding the wrong house.

"Yep, this is it," she murmured folding up the piece of paper she was reading from and slipping it back into her pocket.

Sakura walked up the to door and raised her hand to knock.

No, I don't want to give any warnings Sakura thought lowering her hand.

With a deep breath, she kicked the door with all her might. The door flew open as Sakura stepped into the dimly lit house.

Following her instincts, she moved down the hallway until she gave to another door, this one had a bolt on it. Sakura grabbed the bolt and tried to slide it across but the rusty piece of metal refused to move. Pouring more strength into it, she finally got the stubborn mechanism to open.

Opening the door careful not to make any noise, Sakura stepped into the dark room.

She stopped seeing two blindfolded and gagged men, each was securely handcuffed to a pipe running down the surface of the far wall.

"Dad?" Sakura murmured softly.

One of the men's head turned.

"Sakura?" he murmured in disbelief, "What are you doing here?"

"Dad!" Sakura sighed in relief as she ran to her dad and pull his blindfold off, "Thank god you're okay!"

She hugged him as tightly as she could even though he was handcuffed to the wall.

"Sakura..." her father murmured weakly, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to rescue you," Sakura told him confidently, "Here I'll see if I can free y..."

"Stop right there!" a female voice cried.

Sakura jumped as two overhead lights suddenly burst into life throwing bright light onto the walls. She stood there stunned for a second before whirling around and studying the woman standing in front of her.

A petite woman with black hair and piercing teal eyes glared at her. Sakura blinked noticing how the black hair seemed to appear brown beneath the bright light.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded.

"Who are you?" Sakura snapped back, "How dare you kidnap my father!"

"He's your father?" the woman gestured at Fujitaka, "I feel sorry for you."

"Why?" Sakura growled furiously.

"Because you have a murderer for a father."

Sakura stared at her blinking in confusion.

"What?" Sakura choked, "You're lying."

"No, I'm not," the woman smirked, "Your father is a murderer."

"He murdered Nadeshiko Kinomoto."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!! You must hate me!! So, did Fujitaka kill Nadeshiko? Well, you'll just have to find out.

Next chapter:

Sakura is stunned at this new mysterious woman's accusation. Did her father murder her mother? But that is not the only shock in store as Sakura discovers the truth about her mother and this woman. But wait, Spinnel Corporation is after the second book and the Angels will have to act quickly if they want to discover the location before the corporation does... find out what happens in... _Revelations _

A/Note: Well, the mysterious woman introduced in this chapter is yet another character created by a winner of the Syaoran's Angels Competition.

Don't worry ms. evil, your character is coming...

ATTENTION ALL S/S FANS! SYAORAN IS GOING TO APPEAR PROBABLY IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!!  
YAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!


	13. Revelations

Thank you for all your lovely reviews and keep up the good work! REVIEW!!

Disclaimer: (Sigh), do I always have to do this? I don't owe a thing except for the storylines, characters of my invention and other things such as the books.

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 12: Revelations**

"Who are you?" the woman demanded.

"Who are you?" Sakura snapped back, "How dare you kidnap my father!"

"He's your father?" the woman gestured at Fujitaka, "I feel sorry for you."

"Why?" Sakura growled furiously.

"Because you have a murderer for a father."

Sakura stared at her blinking in confusion.

"What?" Sakura choked, "You're lying."

"No, I'm not," the woman smirked, "Your father is a murderer."

"He murdered Nadeshiko Kinomoto."

There was a few seconds pause.

"What?" she managed to gasp finally.

The woman turned to Fujitaka who was still bound to the pipe.

"You haven't told her? I wonder why," the woman asked mockingly than her eyes hardened, "Is it because you don't want your little girl to know you're a cold-blooded murderer?"

Fujitaka stared at her in confusion and with sadness in his eyes.

"I never killed my wife," he said softly before closing his eyes.

Sakura knew that the subject of her mother was still a bit sensitive to her father and she couldn't help but wonder why. Was it really because he had murdered her?

She closed her eyes.

No way.

No way in hell.

Her father has always loved her mother, why else would he be single and had never been on a date after her death? No, her father was no a murderer, he was the one who had looked after her ever since she was a baby. The sweet, caring man who had raised her couldn't be a murderer.

That she knew for sure.

"He. Is. Not. A. Murderer," Sakura growled make each word sound like a sentence.

"Listen little girl," the woman snapped, "I applaud your courage for trying to rescue your father but go home and play with your dolls before you get injured."

"Why don't you go home before I injure you?" Sakura snarled back.

"Bring it on."

Without any warning, the woman lashed out at Sakura, her arm going for Sakura's face. Sakura caught her arm and swung her around throwing her into the wall.

"Ding, ding," Sakura smirked, "Round one."

The woman recovered instantly whirling around and backhanded Sakura in the face with a close fist. The American Angel winced but retaliated by leaping up into the air and spin-kicked the woman in the chest. She stumbled backwards but the fight was far from over.

Sakura grimaced as the woman landed a swift kick to her ribs followed up by a roundhouse punch to the head. Her vision went grey for a few seconds as the side of her head exploded into mind-numbing pain, fighting against the excruciating pain Sakura managed to land a solid punch to the woman's stomach. The woman keeled over as Sakura elbowed her in the back of the head.

"You're good," the woman muttered through gritted teeth as she slowly straightened.

Sakura merely smirked and shifted into a fighter's stance, the woman shifted into a stance of her own.

"But I'm better," the woman growled.

They lunged at each other once more. With a loud warcry the woman aimed a flying kick straight at Sakura's face. Sakura grabbed the woman's leg and using the leg as support leapt into the air and planted two solid kicks on the woman's ribs. The woman grimaced but managed to grab Sakura's foot before the younger woman could pull away.

"BAM!"

Sakura's teeth rattled as the woman threw her over her shoulders and into the ground. She lay there stunned for a few seconds as she blinked furiously trying to clear her vision. Dimly she saw the woman leap into the air and came plummeting down towards her, legs outstretched ready to finish her off with a final kick.

"SAKURA!" her father yelled frantically.

Somehow Sakura managed to get her battered body to respond in time. Hurriedly she rolled away just as the woman's foot struck the ground just missing Sakura's body by mere centimetres.

The woman grimaced as her foot struck the hard ground causing jolts of pain to shoot up her leg. Sakura hurriedly flipped onto her foot and kicked the woman legs out from under her causing her to fall to the ground but before Sakura could take advantage of it, the woman swept her legs around knocking Sakura down as well.

"You're better than I thought," the woman said with a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Well, what do you know?" Sakura retorted, "I'm just full of surprises."

The woman sent her an evil grin.

"I'm just sorry this has to end."

"Me too."

This time Sakura attacked first trying to uppercut the woman in the stomach, she blocked it expertly and threw a punch at Sakura, which the Angel deftly blocked as well.

They continued battling throwing complex combinations of punches and kicks at each other, some landed but most were blocked. They were amazing too watch, two skilled fighters locked in combat. Punches and kicks that were little more than flesh-coloured blurs were somehow blocked with amazing speed. Each had bruises on various parts of their bodies and probably had enough injuries to send a normal person to hospital but they still forged on neither willing to give up.

Sakura hurriedly blocked a swing aimed for her head and used her other arm to block a kick aimed for her stomach. Suddenly the woman's other arm snaked out and socked Sakura in the stomach. Sakura gasped in pain as her arms dropped a few centimetres. It was enough.

"CRACK!" with a bone-crunching crack the woman's fist slammed into Sakura's face.

Sakura slammed into the wall and slumped down to the ground her vision going black as she tried to fight back the pain and stand up. She managed to rise shakily to her feet but than her legs crumpled beneath her as her head exploded into pain causing a low moan of pain to escape her lips. She fell down once more as her whole body throbbed with pain.

"Game over, little girl," the woman managed to smile in satisfaction even though she was gasping for breath.

"Level one complete," a new voice said from behind them.

"Now entering level two," another voice added anger evident in her voice.

"What the?" the woman whirled around in time to see two well-aimed kicks slam into her chest sending her flying back.

She hit the wall as her head snap back creating a loud crack as the back of her skull made contact with the hard bricks. Sakura winced at the sound as the woman collapsed, knocked out cold.

"Jeez, Sakura," one of her rescuers muttered, "You could have waited up for us."

Sakura looked up.

"Meiling?! Tomoyo?!" she gasped, "Ho.. ho... how?"

Meiling sighed as she helped Sakura to her feet. Tomoyo merely smirked.

"Oh come on," Tomoyo said with a raised eyebrow, "All I had to do was to hack into Spinnel Corporation's computer network and voila! I find out where your father was being held."

Sakura blushed as she realised she should have just asked her friend to help rather then go solo against the company.

"Well, I was rather... angry at that time," Sakura said defensively.

"Whoa, if that was you angry I hate to see you on a murderous rampage," Tomoyo informed her, "You do realise you've blown up part of Spinnel Corporation building and cause mass paranoia about terrorists attacks?"

"Whoops," Sakura said with a slight shrug.

"Whoops? Whilst I admire you for your courage somehow I don't think it was the wisest course of action," Meiling retorted with a hint of amusement in her voice, "your plan was way over the top."

"Yeah," Tomoyo agreed sending a mischievous grin at Meiling, "It was something I thought Meiling will come up with."

"Ha, ha," Meiling said sarcastically, "You're soooo funny."

Sakura ignored her friends' bantering and turned to her father who was staring at her in shock.

"Don't worry dad," she said reassuringly, "We'll get you out of here."

She turned back to her friend.

"Who's the other guy?" she asked gesturing towards the other man also handcuffed to the pipe.

"He's one of my co-workers," Fujitaka managed to say through his shock.

They looked at the man who was still unconscious, slumped against his restraints. Meiling was silent as she studied him closely.  
"Professor Haddock?" she asked.

Fujitaka nodded.

"Yes, James Haddock."

The Angels stood there for a few seconds as they digested that piece of information.

"Okay, let's get you of out here," Tomoyo announced.

"The handcuffs?" Sakura asked.

Tomoyo smirked at her as she reached into her pockets and took out a small leather pouch. She opened it revealing the many oddly shaped strands of wires inside, the metal glowing dully in the dim light.

"Lock picks."

"What about her?" Meiling spoke up gesturing towards the knocked out woman.

The Angels stared at each other.

Meiling's eyes flickered to the handcuffs.

Sakura and Tomoyo caught the look and glanced at each other.

"Uh oh."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Somehow I don't think this is a great idea."

"You've got a better plan?" Meiling asked with a small shrug.

Sakura shook her head.

"Guess not."

The girls were sitting inside a luxurious bedroom with the knocked out woman handcuffed to a chair in front of them. The bedroom complete with soft velvet curtains and expensive brand furniture was just one room in the massive mansion in the heart of one of Hong Kong's busiest cities.

"And you own this mansion?" Sakura asked Meiling still enchanted with the building.

Meiling's cheeks turned slightly pink as she shrugged trying to hide her discomfort.

"Well, technically it belongs to my family but since they're not here... yeah, it's pretty much mine."

"Wow."

Tomoyo seemed indifferent to the opulence of the mansion but than again she was fairly rich herself. Meiling and Sakura didn't know the full details but knew that Tomoyo had inherited quite a large sum of money from one of her relatives. The details were a bit vague but they knew that Tomoyo didn't like talking about it.

"Okay, back to the topic here," Tomoyo interrupted, "Who is she?"

Meiling and Sakura shrugged.

Tomoyo sighed.

"I'll contact Syaoran and see what I can find out... Sakura?"

"I'm going to talk to my dad," Sakura pulled a face wincing slightly at the thought of the task ahead and walked out the room into the brightly lit hallway.

She strolled down the hall noting the thick gold-coloured carpet she walked on. The vibrant colour of the fabric suited the light cream-coloured walls perfectly making the hallway feel sunny, bright and cheerful.

Sakura stopped in front of one of the doors to her left. Taking a deep breath and steadying her nerves, she finally managed to pluck up her courage and open the door.

Her father was sitting on a chair facing a window overlooking the busy street beneath. The soundproof walls of the mansion blocked out the sounds of the urban jungle outside and right at this moment Sakura thought the silence was more disturbing then any noise created by the busy city below.

Even Sakura had to smile as she saw the irony of the situation.

She could take down a whole platoon of criminals, gang leaders and commandos without blinking an eyelid but she was terrified when it came to speaking to her father.

"Dad?" she asked tentatively.

Fujitaka continued to look at the window without responding to his daughter.

"Umm... dad... right now I bet you are really confused and probably very shocked," Sakura rambled on uncomfortably, "And you're probably wondering what the hell just happened. Well, to start right at the beginning I'm an..."

"You're an Angel, I know," her father cut her off.

Sakura gaped at him stunned into silence. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to form words.

"Wha... what... what?!" she finally managed to gasp faintly.

Fujitaka smiled at her sadly.

"Ho... how.. wha... howdoyouknow?" Sakura stammered her words running together due to her shock.

Fujitaka continued to smile at her sadly, Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably as her father remained silent staring at her with a faraway expression on his face.

"Because your mother was an Angel as well."

Sakura stood there for a few seconds blinking slowly as her mind worked furiously trying to digest the piece of information that had just been given to her.

"WHAT?!" she almost screamed at him disbelievingly.

Fujitaka remained silent as he watched his daughter's face seeing the shock that registered there. She was gaping at him in shock trying to understand the magnitude of what he had just said. He smiled sadly thinking once again how much she looked like her mother... Nadeshiko...

He sighed wistfully.

"Your mother was an Angel and judging from your hand-to-hand combat with that woman you're also an Angel," he said softly, "Your mother told me just before we got married..."

Sakura opened her mouth to speak but Fujitaka raised his hands cutting her off.

"She had been an Angel for a long, long time and was very successful in what she did. She continued to work for her boss and stopped briefly whilst she was pregnant with you then a few months after you were born she went back to work. Three years later she died..." Fujitaka trailed off unable to continue on.

"How did she die?" Sakura demanded suddenly realising something, "Did she really die in a car accident like you told me?"

She prayed to god that he hadn't been lying all those years when he told her about her mother's death but her heart sank as Fujitaka closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. She closed her eyes trying to get a grip on her emotions.

"H.. h.. how?" she asked faintly.

Fujitaka looked at her as tears slowly descended down his cheeks lying behind a glittering trail.

"She was k... killed," he said softly sorrow evident in his voice, "She was shot."

Sakura felt whole body tremble and she dimly realised that tears were running down her face. Her mind seemed to be going numb as she slowly clenched her fists, fury causing her emerald eyes to light up.

"Who?" she growled, "Who did it? Who killed her?"

Fujitaka shook his head sorrowfully.

"I don't know," he said dully.

Sakura continued to stare at him, the fury that had coursed through her body fading. What remained was sorrow, regret and... betrayal.

He had lied to her.

For all those years...

How could he?

Not once did she stop to think that she had been lying to him hiding the fact that she was an Angel. She was too caught up in her own pain and anger to even think about that.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked in a clipped tone.

Fujitaka stared at her.

"You were three for god's sakes!" he protested.

"No," Sakura cut him off, "Why didn't you tell me for all these years? Why did you keep it a secret?"

Fujitaka remained silent as Sakura waited impatiently for his answer.

"I wanted to protect you," he said quietly.

"From what?" Sakura snapped, "The truth?"

"NO! No," Fujitaka yelled with a pained look on his face, "It was just tha... that..."

"What?" Sakura bit off coldly, "What was it that stopped you from telling me?"

Fujitaka opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as the door opened. Tomoyo poked her head in and blinked seeing the furious look in Sakura's eyes.

"Umm... yeah..." she began hesitantly, "Sakura, we're going to contact Syaoran. James Haddock just woke up and gave us information about the second book."

Sakura nodded curtly.

"I'm coming," she said anger evident in her voice.

Tomoyo nodded and closed the door fleeing down the hallway not wanting to witness a fight between Sakura and her father.

"We'll talk later," Sakura told her father curtly as she turned her back to him and walked out.

As Sakura left Fujitaka buried his face in his hands and wondered sorrowfully how it had come to this.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling took one look at Sakura's stormy face and wisely didn't ask her how her talk with her father go instead she concentrated on the task at hand. The three girls were seating on a sofa in the vast, luxurious living room as Tomoyo knelt over and began typing into laptop she had sent up onto the mahogany coffee table standing in front of them. Attached to the laptop by a series of wires was a small cream-coloured speaker box. Tomoyo tapped in the final digit and sat back watching as the speaker box crackled to life.

"Good morning Angels," Syaoran's deep voice came in through the speaker box.

"Good morning Syaoran!" the girls chorused.

After a short pause Syaoran's voice spoke up again, this time all three of them could detect the confusion in his voice.

"Ah girls... my computer tells me you're in Hong Kong... am I right?"

Tomoyo blinked in surprise upon hearing that, she was sure she had made the connection secure... As Tomoyo puzzled over Syaoran's ability to track down where they were, Meiling answered the question.

"Yes, we're in Hong Kong. We've managed to track down and rescue James Haddock as well as Sakura's father..."

"Wait a minute, Sakura's father was kidnapped as well?"

Meiling nodded and then blushed realising Syaoran couldn't see her.

"He was but we rescued him. They were held by this mysterious woman..." Meiling proceeded to describe the woman and Sakura's fight with her, "... she was extremely skilled. She managed to beat Sakura but me and Tomoyo managed to knock her out . She's with us, safely handcuffed to a chair."

There was a slight pause on the other line.

"Wait a minute," Syaoran said urgently, "Describe her to me again."

Meiling complied describing the woman in greater detail.

"And she beat Sakura in a fight?" Syaoran was beginning to sound perplexed.

"Yeah," Meiling answered shooting a look at Sakura who was still deep in her thoughts thinking about what her father had said.

"I don't believe it," Syaoran gasped, "Kiyone Miller!"

All three girls stared at the speaker shock in surprise.

"You know her?" Tomoyo demanded.

"She is... well, was an Angel and she worked for my f... somebody I use to know," Syaoran explained.

"An Angel?!" Sakura looked up at the speaker box in shock.

The other two Angels echoed the same sentiments. They had all known they had been previous Angels before them but they never though they'd actually meet one... or fight one.

Sakura was starting to hyperventilate. The woman was an ex-Angel. She had said something about her father murdering her mother. Did that mean she knew her mother who had also been an Angel?

Oh god, does that mean the woman may know who might have killed her mother?

Sakura gritted her teeth.

She was going to find out.

Then there will be hell to pay.

With much difficulty she switched her attention back to the conversation between her friends and Syaoran.

"James Haddock told you about the location of the second book?" Syaoran quizzed.

"Umm... not exactly," Tomoyo began.

There was a slight pause on the other line as Tomoyo hastened to explain.

"He told us that none of the archaeologists have any idea where the site was actually located except that it was somewhere in the Altai Mountains in the Mongolia."

"No specific information?" Syaoran asked.

Tomoyo shook her head and then blushed realising Syaoran can't see her.

"No and since the mountain range extends from the west of Mongolia to the south, it will be pretty much impossible to find the site without specific locations."

Syaoran sighed.

"How is that possible?" he wondered.

"Excuse me?" Tomoyo asked not quite understanding what he was asking.

"How did they keep it a secret from the archaeologists? The location I mean."

"Oh," Tomoyo sighed and began explaining, "Apparently this dig was extremely important to the history of both China and Mongolia with a lot of vital information concerning the war between the two empires during the Imperial ages. The dig was being funded by both the Chinese and Mongolian government as well as a wealthy businessman and all of them wanted to keep it top secret to keep away smugglers and thieves."

Tomoyo took a deep breath and continued.

"Expert archaeologists were invited from all over the world and all arrived at Ulaanbaatar International Airport on the same day. James Haddock told us they were escorted into a bus, which had tinted windows so they couldn't see outside and were drive to the site without being told where they were. They worked there for about a year before they were all sent home after the project was finished."

"Great," Syaoran sighed, "Does he know anything about the location?"

"No."

Syaoran sighed again.

"Tomoyo, did you say that the governments were backing up the dig?"

"Yes."

"I want you to hack into their computers and try to get the location."

"I'm on it," Tomoyo told him confidently.

"And girls?"

"Yes?" they all asked at the same time.

"I want you to talk to Kiyone Miller and ask her why she thought Sakura's father murdered his wife. I think there is more to that than just a case of false information."

Sakura nodded her head.

"I'll talk to her," she said determination and a hint of anger evident in her voice.

Meiling and Tomoyo exchanged worried glances and wisely kept their mouths shut.

"Good luck Sakura," Syaoran told her.

Then he spoke to the trio of them.

"Good luck Angels."

"Bye, Syaoran!" the girls chorused.

The speaker box went dead as the girls looked at each other.

"Let's get to work," Meiling said standing up.

The other two Angels stood up and nodded. With that all three split up and went their separate ways.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo sat in one of the many spare bedrooms within the mansion, her laptop set up on a desk in front of her. Stretching her back she leaned forward and got to work her hands flying over the keyboards as she tried to gain access into the government computers.

Access Denied. The message flashed across the screen in bold red flashing letters. Tomoyo shrugged and tried again.

_Access Denied._

Tomoyo rolled her eyes and sighed and hunkered down for a long, long day.

This was going to take a while.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling switched on the lights and smiled in satisfaction seeing everything was as she had left it all those years ago.

The metal of equipment captured the light causing it to glow slightly, highlighting the perfect condition they were in.

Weights, punching bags, treadmills, exercise machines or all shapes and description were laid out in systematic order within the expansive gym. Meiling smiled to herself and shed off her jacket stretching her legs and arms in anticipation.

Confidently she strolled up to a large punching bag dangling down from the wall and kicked it with all her strength.

The bag flew backwards swinging around wildly as Meiling grinned.

"This feels good."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

When Kiyone Miller opened her brilliant teal eyes she was greeted with the sight of the auburn-haired girl she had been fighting perched on top of a stool in front of her.

Kiyone gritted her teeth as her head ached dully. She tried to stand up but discovered to her shock and fury that she was somehow bound to the chair she was sitting in.

"What the hell are you staring at?" she snarled at the girl who was studying her carefully.

"An Angel," Sakura replied calmly.

That caused Kiyone to blink slowly as that piece of information sank into her head.

"How the hel..." she began.

"Did I know you were an Angel?" Sakura asked cutting her off, "Simple, Syaoran told me."

"And who is Syaoran?" Kiyone demanded.

"My boss."

Kiyone scowled.

"And let me guess, your boss wants you to put a metal slug in my head."

"Not exactly," Sakura smirked, "He wants me to talk to you."

"Listen girlie," Kiyone growled, "No matter how much you interrogate me I ain't telling you anything."

"I'm an Angel as well," Sakura said quietly.

Kiyone's jaw dropped as she stared at her in confusion.

"Wha... what?!" she asked slowly.

"I'm an Angel just like you where. Syaoran is my boss," Sakura took a deep breath, "I want to talk to you about my mother."

Kiyone blinked.

"Who's your mother?"

"Here is a little clue," Sakura smirked, "I'm Sakura Kinomoto."

The ex-Angel's jaw dropped again as she gaped at her. Then slowly she studied the younger woman carefully taking note of her now-familiar face and the aura of confidence and kindness she exuded.  
"Nadeshiko's daughter!" Kiyone gasped realising who she looked and acted like.

"Yes," Sakura nodded, "My mother."

Sakura took a deep breath.

"Tell me about her."

Kiyone sighed and looked off into space her eyes taking on a faraway look.

"I really didn't know much about your mother except she was married and had a daughter. You see, Nadeshiko and two other women were the original Angels but one of them was injured on a mission and I was sent to replace her. Me, Nadeshiko and Lara, who was the other Angel, worked for about three months together. But then one night on a mission everything went wrong..." Kiyone took a deep breath as she relived the night Sakura's mother had died, "We were meant to go inside a factory and steal the blueprints of a new missile this corrupted company was planning to build. However we were making our getaway as a whole army of guards descended on us. In the confusion that followed, we got separated. The next thing I knew I could hear gunshots. I fought my way out and several minutes later Lara came out..."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Flashback_

"Lara!" Kiyone gasped seeing her fellow Angel.

The blonde-haired Angel was gasping her breath as she sprinted towards Kiyone.

"Where's Nadeshiko?" Kiyone demanded.

Lara stared at her with haunted eyes. Kiyone understood straight away.

"No! She can't be!" she screamed at the blonde-haired woman.

Lara nodded numbly.

"I saw who it was. I saw how tipped them off..." she murmured softly, "It wa... it was..."

"Who?" Kiyone demanded.

"Fujitaka... Fujitaka Kinomoto..." Lara looked at her in horror.

"Who the hell is that?" Kiyone screamed at her.

"Nadeshiko's husband."

Kiyone gaped at her but before she could react the whole area was flooded with bright light.  
"There they are!" a voice cried.

"RUN!" Lara screamed.

The two Angels fled sprinting as fast as they could. Kiyone turned towards her fellow Angel to see how she was going and stared in horror as a dot of red light appeared on the woman's back.

"LARA!!" she screamed.

"BANG!"

The gun went off as a bullet followed the red beam hurtling at Lara faster then the eye could see. Lara turned around to see what was happening and opened her mouth in a silent scream as the bullet ripped into her body. She collapsed kicking feebly.

"Run," she gasped to Kiyone, "RUN!"

With tears in her eyes, Kiyone shot one last desperate look at Lara and fled running as fast as she could.

Behind her, somewhere in the factory and lying on the cold hard concrete ground, lay the bodies of Nadeshiko and Lara.

_End of flashback_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Oh god," Sakura murmured, "They both died?"

Kiyone nodded her head slowly.

"I'm sorry," she murmured sorrowfully, "I should have saved them."

Sakura bit her lip and stared Kiyone squarely in the eye, "Don't be. You couldn't have them anymore then you did. But I'll tell you this right now. My father did not kill my mother. I promise you that he didn't."

"Can you be sure of that?" Kiyone asked smiling crookedly.

Sakura opened her mouth to argue but found she had no answer to that question.

"He just didn't," she murmured softly, "I just know it."

She walked to Kiyone and got out a key from her pocket. She knelt down and unlocked the handcuffs securing the ex-Angel.

"You're free to go but don't go after my father," Sakura stared at her letting the ex-Angel see the coldness in her eyes, "If you do I swear I'll kill you."

Kiyone merely nodded her head and left the room. Sakura stared at the open door before walking slowly to the bed and collapsing onto it.

Only then did she allow the sadness and sorrow building inside of her to release itself as tears flowed down her face.

Mom, I don't know if you can hear me but I promise you I will make them pay. Whoever killed you will pay. I swear on it.

Sakura smiled crookedly through her tears and closed her eyes allowing the weariness inside her body and soul to take over as she sank into blissful oblivion.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo smiled as she tapped the enter key.

_Access granted._

"Finally," she murmured.

She quickly looked through all the computer files until she came to one she wanted. Tomoyo read the file as a grin spread across her face.

"Bingo."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo glanced at the sheet of paper she held and explained to Syaoran through the speaker box as well as Meiling and Sakura what was going on.

"As you all know the dig was also funded by a wealthy businessman. Tonight right here in Hong Kong, Mr. Ryan Trong will be holding a formal dinner party at his mansion. The purpose of this party is to show off the artefacts found at the site to many important delegates and government officials in the Hong Kong government," Tomoyo explained.

"Very good, Tomoyo," Syaoran praised, "But how does this help us."

"I propose either Sakura or Meiling infiltrate the party and somehow gain access to Mr. Trong's computers. I will give them a disk by uploading the disk on to the computer I will be able to gain access into it and hopefully find the information we need."

"Can't you just hack into it?" Syaoran asked.

Tomoyo shook her head.

"I can't. Mr. Trong's computers will be protected by state-of-the-art protection programs even though I can bypass all of those I don't know enough specific information about his computer to gain access into it."

"Okay," Syaoran sighed, "Who will be infiltrating the party."

Meiling looked at Sakura who nodded.

"I will."

"Good," Tomoyo glanced down at her papers and frowned, "However there is one slight problem..."

"What?" Syaoran asked.

"This dinner party is extremely formal, which means invitation guest only. It will be impossible to penetrate the security systems and guards installed within the mansion," Tomoyo sighed, "Which means we need to get hold of an invitation."

Surprisingly it was Syaoran who came up with the solution.

"I may know somehow who may have received an invitation," Syaoran told them suddenly, "Sakura get dressed for a formal party and get ready. Stand at Meiling's mansion's gate at 8 o'clock sharp and a limo should be there to pick you up."

"Ooo... a limo..." Sakura grinned wickedly.

Tomoyo and Meiling rolled their eyes and sighed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura nervously plucked at the neckline of the simple but elegant black dress she wore. It hugged her body perfectly clinging her body at all the right places. A pair of diamond earrings and a silver necklace completed the simple but stunning attire. She glanced around wearily waiting for her ride.

At exactly 8 o'clock, a black limo rolled up to the gate. The chauffeur got out and smiled charmingly at Sakura.

"Good evening, Ms. Kinomoto," he said politely, "My employer is waiting for you."

He opened the limo's door as Sakura got in.

The first thing Sakura noticed was that a man aged in his late twenties to early thirties was reclining in the limo's leather seat. Sakura sucked in her breath as she studied the handsome man. He looked at with burning amber eyes and smiled disarmingly at her.

"Hello, you must be Sakura," he grinned as he grabbed hold of her left hand and politely kissed the back of it.

Sakura was still speechless as she looked at the man's glistening brown hair and impeccable tuxedo.

"I'm Xiaolang."

You guessed it! CLIFFHANGER!! I will not update until I get another 20 reviews!! So you know the drill review!!

Next chapter:

With the help of the new mysterious strange, Xiaolang, Sakura infiltrates the dinner party and attempts to grab hold of the information vital towards their recovering of the second book. However will she failed or succeed? And who exactly is Xiaolang? All these questions answered and so much more in... _ Masquerades and missions._

A/Note: Before anybody asks, yes Xiaolang is in fact Syaoran so it is going to get very, very interesting. However I'm still unsure if this is going to be a S/S fic, I think it would be very hard for that particular relationship to work. But who knows what will happen?

And on another note, Kiyone Miller was another character created by a Syaoran's Angels competition winners... 4 down. 2 to go...

So if you are a winner and you character has not featured yet... sorry! But they will appear.

And don't worry we'll be seeing more of Kiyone Miller very soon.

And to all those reviewers... THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!! Sorry about the low delays in between each chapter but my term break is coming up soon so maybe I'll get another two chapters in very soon... (I hope). But there is no real point in reviewing me and asking questions about the plot and how respective storylines will turn out. I WILL NOT SAY A WORD no matter how much you beg.

Sorry (shrugs) but that's how it works.

So keep up the good work and REVIEW! THANK YOU!


	14. Masquerades and missions

I will not update until I have 20 reviews!!

Disclaimer- Still don't own anything just characters of my own inventions and the storyline.

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 13: Masquerades and missions**

Eriol Hiragizawa was not a happy man.

First, his hotel room was without power due to the fact that some idiot construction workers accidentally severing the powerlines when they were trying to put in a new road. Then his rented car had a massive scratch on its paintwork because some idiot driver couldn't even drive properly.

Eriol resisted the urge to swear on the top of his lungs and wondered what he had done to bring about such bad luck.

And going along with the old saying 'bad luck comes in three', Eriol had one final piece of bad luck he had to deal with.

HE HAD LOST TRACK OF HIS PREY.

Eriol gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to punch the windshield. For an assassin, losing track of his quarry was a big deal. He needed to find out where they were and fast.

Marcus Ruflac wanted results and so far Eriol hadn't come up with any. He better finish this job or otherwise his reputation would be seriously damaged and an assassin with a damaged reputation would find it hard to find any work at all.

Eriol sighed and wondered how his life had suddenly become so difficult.

Normally he would find where his quarry live and use subtle methods such as poisoning, sniping, knife-in-the-back to finish the job. If subtlety didn't work, a bomb usually did the trick however this time around...

He actually bothered to try and find out _everything_ about the girls especially anything concerning that beautiful lavender-eyed temptress who had strolled into his life with sudden and shock ease.

Tomoyo...

Eriol sighed and reminded himself once more not to get himself emotionally involved with her.

There was no point in falling in love with a dead (or soon to be) woman...

Right?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Hi, I'm Xiaolang."

Sakura just sat there gaping at him well aware her jaw was open.

_'Sakura!' _Tomoyo's voice came in loud and clear through the hidden com-link snuggled inside her ear.

Sakura shook her self slightly and managed to gather her wits back. Putting on her sweetest and most seductive smile, Sakura beamed at him.

"Hi," Sakura winced knowing she probably sounded like some kind of seductress out to steal someone's boyfriend.

She cleared her throat and tried again.

"Hi, my name is Sakura."

Hmmm... a bit on the shy side but at least I don't sound like a two-timer she thought suddenly to herself.

She was suddenly aware of the fact that Xiaolang was talking again, blushing furiously she switched her attention back to him.

"So are you one of the Angels?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah," Sakura replied wearily expecting a barrage of questions about her job.

"So what do you do outside your job?"

"What?" Sakura exclaimed shocked that he would ask something like that.

Every time anybody asked anything about her it was usually what she did in her line of work. This was the first time they had actually about _her. _

"What do you do?"

"Well, I breath and occasionally eat," Sakura replied teasingly.

Xiaolang laughed, his laugh was rich and deep and Sakura decided right then and there she liked the sound of it.

"You know what I mean," Xiaolang said with a small smile on his face.

Sakura warmed up to him every more as Xiaolang accepted her little joke with good humour.

"Well, I do what normal girls do: shop, go the gym, have fun, watch sappy movies and have a good cry..." Sakura trailed off blushing, "I can't believe I just said that."

Xiaolang smiled at her warmly as Sakura smiled shyly back. They continued to look at each other for a little while before Sakura broke the comfortable silence with a question of her own.

"How do you know Syaoran?" she asked curiously.

Xiaolang was silent for a while as he studiously avoided her gaze.

"He and I were business partners are one point," he replied finally.

Sakura stared at him as a wide grin spread across her face.

"That's great!" she squealed, "Have you actually seen him? What does he look like?"

Xiaolang fidgeted nervously for a few seconds as Sakura eagerly waited for his answer. He blushed and looked out of the window for a few seconds before turning back to the Angel.

"Well... he is..." Xiaolang hedged.

"Yes?" Sakura prompted.

Xiaolang took a deep breath and sighed.

"As much as I'd like to tell you, he told me never to tell anyone what he looks like or any information about his business or where he lives,"

"Oh," Sakura said a little disappointed, "Oh well, I guess it's better if I don't know."

Xiaolang smiled apologetically at her and patted her hand comfortingly.

"Sorry."

Sakura blushed feeling his hand touch hers but quickly recovered by beaming at him. Xiaolang smiled back at her.

"So what exactly are we going to?" Sakura asked trying to make small talk.

"Don't you know?" Xiaolang asked surprise.

"Yeah, I know it's a party and all but specific information, please?"

Xiaolang was silent for a while.

"Well, it's basically..." he began, "a show-off party."

Sakura blinked.

"Huh?" she blushed realising that it was probably impolite to say that, "I mean, pardon?"

"Well, it's basically what it sounds like," Xiaolang explained, "Ryan Trong is an old man who enjoys the company and respect and admiration of others. He's been bragging about the dig for months now and now is his chance to show off the findings."

"Oh," Sakura murmured,

"Sounds... interesting," she added diplomatically.

"It's not," Xiaolang told her with a warm smile, "I hate these things. It's down right boring and I have other things to do then to sit around and listen to Trong show off once again..."

"Why do you go then?" Sakura asked curiously, "Why don't you refuse their invitations."

Xiaolang smiled at her and Sakura bristled seeing the smug look on his face, he sighed as in exasperation as though she was little girl and he had to explain something to her.

"You can't simply refuse to go with these things. It is important to keep a good, healthy relationship with a fellow businessmen, networking is important and keeping yourself on the good side of powerful men is very important in the business world," Xiaolang recited it to her as though it was his mantra.

Sakura glared at him.

"Sorry, I didn't know that," she said waspishly.

Xiaolang laughed and smiled at her warmly.

"Sorry if I sounded a bit arrogant there," he told her ruefully, "Sorry but I had that lesson drummed into my head since I was five."

Sakura blinked at him not understanding.

"My father was a businessman as well and wanted me to follow in his footsteps so they family company would proper," her companion explained.

Sakura opened her mouth to comment as the limo stopped moving.

"We've arrived, sir," the chauffer informed them.

"Thank you," Xiaolang replied.

He opened door and stepped outside, Sakura moved to do the same but stopped as Xiaolang turned around.

"Madam," he smiled charmingly at her as he held out a hand to help her out.

"Thank you," she smiled back at him as she clasped his hand lightly and elegant stepped out from the limo.

Xiaolang bowed at her and offered her his arm, smiling graciously at him Sakura linked her arm through his and the two walked down long pave path towards the imposing mansion standing before them.

As they walked Sakura admired the garden on either side of the path, illuminated by lights the lush green foliage appeared to be a beautiful emerald green, the small water droplets hanging on the leaves reflecting the light and shimmering like gems. Flowers off every colour and description lent the garden their vivid colours and Sakura's grin grew wider as she spotted the flowers for which she had been named after. Xiaolang glanced over at the woman he was escorting and smiled seeing what she was looking at.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" he murmured.

Sakura nodded.

"Just like you," Xiaolang added smiling warmly at her.

Sakura blushed but grinned back at him.

"Why, thank you," she accepted the compliment graciously.

The two made it to the end of the path and walked up a flight of marble stairs. Two large ebony doors were opened allowing the light from within to spill out onto the ground outside. Inside beneath a giant glistening chandelier, a giant crowd of people were inside sipping fine wines from tall elegant glasses and nibbling on delicacies. Sakura took one glance around and knew most of these people were millionaires, all men wore impeccable business suits or tuxedos and the women were wearing elegant dresses, jewellery sparkling from their ears, necks and fingers. Sakura couldn't help feeling self-conscious feeling that somehow she didn't fit in. Nervously she smoothed down her dress wondering if she was correctly dressed for this type of function.

_'Relax Sakura,' _Tomoyo murmured through their com-link, '_you look fine.'_

"Why am I here?" the American Angel murmured softly, "You are better suited for these things."

_'Then who is going to do the surveillance?'_ Tomoyo wanted to know.

Sakura sighed.

"You're right... unfortunately."

Suddenly Xiaolang's voice made her jump.

"Talking to yourself?" he asked with a small smile on his face.

Sakura shook her head.

"Com-link," she informed her, "I'm talking to one of my co-workers."

"How?" Xiaolang asked.

He glanced at her face and studied her closely.

"You don't seem to be wired... are you?"

Sakura laughed.

"No, I'm not wired," she told him careful to keep her voice low so she wouldn't be noticed, "The earrings I'm wearing are actually com-links in disguise."

"Then how care she hear you?" Xiaolang asked curiously.

Sakura gestured toward her necklace.

"The diamond pendant on my necklace conceals a recorder as well as a mini-camera," she explained, "My co-worker can hear anything that's going on and could also see what's going on."

Xiaolang nodded.

"Wow, it seems you're a real James Bond," he teased.

Sakura laughed.  
"Except I'm not as big as a flirt as him."

"Ah! Xiaolang!" a loud voice called from across the room.

Both of them jumped at the unexpected intrusion but both quickly recovered. Xiaolang slowly turned around a false smile appearing on his face.

"Ryan!" he greeted cheerfully.

The two men exchanged handshakes as the woman standing beside Ryan gave Xiaolang a flirty grin. Sakura glared at her and resisted the urge to tell her to back off instead opting to put a demure smile on his face as the two men chatted.

"So Xiaolang, who is this delightful woman?" Ryan asked winking roguishly at Sakura.

"Ryan, I would like you to meet..."

"I'm Cherry Avalon. Nice to meet you Mr. Trong," Sakura cut in smoothly using her fake name as she held her left hand out.

"Please, Ms. Avalon. Ryan is perfectly fine," Ryan courteously held Sakura's hand in his and kissed it lightly before releasing it.

"Of course," Sakura said politely.

"Xiaolang, do you want to see some of the findings of the dig?" Ryan asked.

Xiaolang smiled and nodded.

"That would be very good," he said politely.

The four of them wandered through the large room as Ryan and Xiaolang chatted, Ryan's escort turned towards Sakura.

"Hi, I'm Ieran," the woman looked Sakura up and down before giving a little laugh as if she knew something Sakura didn't.

"Hello," Sakura offered politely.

"You're nice," Ieran told her glancing at her body.

Sakura knew full well she wasn't complimenting her personality.

"But?" Sakura asked knowingly sighing in exasperation.

Stuck up witch Sakura thought disdainfully.

"You're not as pretty as the others," Ieran added with wicked glee.

Sakura was silent for a moment wondering if she should take the bait, Ieran watched her an evil smirk on her face.

Oh, what the hell! Sakura thought.

"What others?" she asked casually taking the bait.

Ieran laughed and shook her head slightly deliberately showing off her long, cascading black hair.

"His other... girlfriends," Ieran said it with much disdain, "You don't expect a virile young millionaire like to him to be without... lovers?"

Sakura was silent knowing Ieran had deliberately said the word 'lovers' to invoke a reaction out of her.

Well, two can play at this game

"Really?" Sakura asked arching an eyebrow, "How very interesting."

"It is isn't it?" Ieran smirked.

Sakura laughed causing the two men to look at the two women, Sakura grinned at them reassuringly and they turned back to their conversation.

"Then you must the one that clung to him like a..." Sakura paused and grinned wickedly, "... like a lovesick puppy."

Ieran flushed as Sakura smirked knowing she had hit a weakness.

So I was right! Sakura thought smugly.

Judging by the venomous tone in Ieran's voice Sakura had known she must have at some point been Xiaolang's girlfriend. Why else would she try to drive a rift between them even though in reality they weren't going out? Sakura smiled to herself and congratulated herself on reading Ieran right.

"Did he tell you that?" Ieran asked in a clipped tone.

"Oh no," Sakura patted her arm with false sympathy, "He said something much worse but I was nice. I gave you the children version."

Sakura grinned at her as Ieran glared at her, fury causing her black eyes to glow with unholy light.

"Oops and he told swore to me secrecy," Sakura smiled at her with false sadness, "I'm sorry but I've never been able to keep a secret."

With that last parting shot Sakura totally ignored the woman as Ieran spluttered in anger and instead of retorting she settled for a vicious glare in her direction before ignoring her as well.

If Xiaolang and Ryan noticed the tension between the two women they chose to ignore it, instead they chattered a bit about the findings of the dig as they stepped into another room. Sakura sucked in her breath as she studied the glass cases that stood within the room. Each one held a different artefact that was glorified by the many lights that beat down on them. Gold glistened under the artificial lighting. Gems glowed like multi-coloured stars.

Ryan laughed boisterously at the look on Sakura's face.

"Isn't this something?" he asked clapping Xiaolang's back.

"Yes, it's very fine," Xiaolang murmured.

Sakura carefully studied each glass case making sure that the book wasn't amongst the artefacts here. If it was their mission would be so much easier, Sakura sighed. No such luck.

Ryan proceeded to show them the artefacts giving lengthy introductions for each one, Sakura listened with half an ear but was carefully studying each piece hoping to extract some kind of information about where they had come from.

During a lull in the conversation Sakura tried her luck.

"These are very fine examples of Chinese historical artefacts," she complimented Ryan.

"Thank you, Ms. Avalon," Ryan told her with an easy grin, "But these are just the trinkets. There is many more to come."

"Where are these artefacts from?" Sakura asked, "I'm ever so fascinated by these things. My dad is an archaeologist you see."

"Well, I'm not quite sure where they come from..." Ryan began nervously.

_'He's lying,'_ Tomoyo murmured through their com-link.

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"So your dad is an archaeologist?" Ryan recovered quickly hoping to make her forget the vague answer he had given her.

Sakura nodded and smiled charmingly.

"Oh, yes."

Ryan opened his mouth to comment but was stopped as a butler dressed in a tuxedo came up to their little group.

"Sir, the guests are waiting for you welcoming speech," he told Ryan.

"Oh yes, yes! Of course," Ryan smiled disarmingly at Xiaolang and Sakura, "If you please?"

Sakura smiled as they left the room and entered the main room again. Ryan strolled to the front of the room, Ieran trailing behind him as Xiaolang and Sakura strolled casually to a discreet corner.

"I heard what Ieran said," Xiaolang began uncomfortably.

"Don't worry, I don't believe her," Sakura told him with a grin.

"Good."

Ryan tapped his champagne glass with a small silver spoon as the guests quietened and gave him them full attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, friends and family..." Ryan began.

_'Sakura, it's time...' _Tomoyo told her.

Sakura nodded.

"Xiaolang. I'm going. Can you make excuses for me?" she asked.  
Xiaolang nodded.

"Of course."

"Thanks."

Sakura began walking away.

"Sakura?"

"Yeah?" Sakura turned back to him.

"Good luck," he grinned at her charmingly.

"Thanks."

Sakura stealthily wandered through the crowd careful not to draw attention to herself. As she walked Tomoyo began talking to her through their com-link giving her directions to Ryan's office.

_'Sakura, walk up the flight of stairs and you'll come a balcony.'_

Sakura walked up the stairs weaving around the few groups of people who stood there listening to Ryan's speech.

_'Good. Walk along the balcony until you come to a corridor on your right.'_

Sakura walked on and came to the corridor. She turned and casually strolled into the corridor.

_'Keep going straight forwards and you'll come to another flight of stairs.'_

Sakura saw the stairs and quickly walked up them.

_'Turn to your right and the first door on the left is his office.'_

Sakura followed her friend's instructions and soon came to an imposing ebony door. She tried to open it but found it was locked. Smiling grimly Sakura slipped a hand beneath her dress.

_'You brought your lock picks?'_

"Yeah," Sakura murmured.

She continued to grope under her dress until she felt the secret pocket sewn into the inside of her dress. Pulling the Velcro flap off she reached inside and retrieved a slender leather pouch.

She opened it and selected a strangely shaped piece of wire. Gently she inserted it into the lock kneeling down so she was eye level with the doorknob. She twisted the wire gently and smiled as the lock clicked. She stood up and twisted the doorknob before pushing the door open. She strolled inside and quietly closed the door behind her.

_'Sakura. Stop!'_ Tomoyo yelled suddenly.

"What?" Sakura murmured.

'Cameras. From where you're standing you're just out of range. Don't get in any closer until I tell you to. I'm hacking the surveillance computers.'

Sakura nodded and waited patiently. It didn't take long, thirty seconds later Tomoyo spoke again.

'Camera disabled. Go.'

The American Angel strolled towards the desk situated in front of the far wall as she walked her hand slipped under her dress again. Placing the lock pick kit back into the hidden pocket, she pulled out a pair of gloves and two disks. Slipping them on she reached the computer and sat down onto the chair. She booted up the computer and waited patiently as the screen hummed to life.

A message appeared on the screen demanding the password. Sakura smirked and shoved one of the disks into the computer.

The disk booted up as another of Tomoyo's self-made programs appeared. The program quickly broke through the computer's safety systems and Sakura was soon greeted with the computer's desktop.

Humming softly to herself Sakura ejected the disk and inserted the other one. Quickly she copied the program on the disk onto the computer's hard drive. Like most of Tomoyo's programs, the program would remain invisible to any scans that computer would run and will self-destruct itself after a certain time period. Also the computer will have absolutely no record of Sakura entering its desktop, such was the power of Tomoyo's computer wizardry.

Sakura shut down the computer and ejected the disk. Singing softly to herself she slipped the disks back into the secret pocket and began to get up. She froze suddenly seeing a peculiar box on the desk; the box was small... about a quarter of the size of a normal CD case. But it was old, carved of some kind of unidentifiable wood with intricate designs etched onto it. A winged lion snarled at her from the lid as the sides showed off images of dancing flames. Sakura gently touched it and to her immense surprise with a soft click the lid open.

"What is that?" she murmured.

She stood transfixed as she studied the item inside. A key lay inside, a gold chain threaded through the metal. The key was created in an old fashioned style but it was not that that drew Sakura to it. It was the shape of the key. The top section of the key was circular and a large five-cornered star was etched into the metal. Two intricately shaped feather wings carved of gold adorned the sides, Sakura trace these wings with her fingers as she picked it up.

As though in a trance, Sakura looped the gold chain around her neck. The key seemed to glow with some inner light as she admired the stark contrast between the brilliant colour of the gold set against the midnight black of her dress. Still transfixed with the key, Sakura slipped it off and almost unknowingly slipped the key inside her secret pocket. She reached over and closed the box.

It was as though she was coming out a dream, Sakura blinked sleepily and frowned realising where she was. She was dimly aware of the fact that she had just stolen a precious artefact but did not find herself overly concerned about it.

Quickly she strolled towards the exit, opening the door she peered outside.

The coast was clear.

She slipped outside and paused to rub the doorknob with her gloves eliminating any chance of her fingerprints being found on the metal. She slipped off her glove and slipped them back into the secret pocket.

'Good, I'm hacking in,' Tomoyo informed her not aware of the fact that Sakura had stolen something.  
Sakura nodded as she quickly began making her way back to the main room. She was just about to descend down the flight of stairs when someone yelled at her.

"Miss!"  
Sakura turned around slowly allowing a charming smile to appear over her face.

"Yes?" she asked the butler.

"Miss, you do realise this is restricted area, don't you?" the butler asked bowing to her stiffly.

Sakura feigned shock.

"Oh, I'm so sorry but I had to use the restroom and I got a little... lost," Sakura allowed a blush to appear on her face, "I'm terribly sorry if I'm in..."

"No, it's okay," the butler reassured her, "I'll take you back."

"Why, thank you," Sakura smiled at her coyly.

She strolled after the butler as the man led the way back to the main room.

'That was close.'

Sakura nodded slightly. The butler stopped in front of the main flight of stairs.

"This is it, miss."

"Why, thank you very much," Sakura gave him a final smile before walking down the marble stairs and rejoining Xiaolang who had been watching her worriedly.

"Did you pull it off?" he asked concerned.

Sakura smiled at him mysteriously.

"Of course, I did."

Xiaolang smiled at her. Sakura glanced around the room and saw that Ryan had finished his speech and was mingling with his guests.

"Well, you missed out a flowery and somewhat boring speech," Xiaolang informed her.

"Oh no, what a shame," Sakura said sweetly.

The two strolled through the crowd as various people yelled out greetings to Xiaolang. In response, the man smiled and shook hands as Sakura avoided questioning gazes. He continued to lead her through the crowd.

"Okay, where are we going?" Sakura asked.

"Somewhere quieter," Xiaolang smiled ruefully at her, "I'm getting a headache."

Sakura smiled softly as Xiaolang led her into exhibition room, they were silent for a moment as Sakura studied the artefacts once more. She glanced around and frowned.

"What's the problem?" Xiaolang asked noticing.

"You know if this party is supposed to be about these artefacts there are not that many people actually looking at them," she noted.

Xiaolang laughed.

"This sort of events is just a chance for businessmen to..." Xiaolang paused looking for a phrase to express his feelings, "... suck up to rich men and rich men come here to be admired and pampered."

Sakura frowned.

"Such is the life of the rich and famous," her companion said with a crooked grin.

Sakura shuddered.

"I would hate that kind of life. To be surrounded by deceptive manipulators and false smiles..."

A hurt look came over Xiaolang's face. Sakura gaped at him before recovering quickly. She silently kicked herself.

"Not that everybody is like that..." she said hurriedly, flustered, "I mean you don't do that... you don't try to be chummy with rich people."

"Chummy?" Xiaolang asked with a grin.

Sakura blushed.

"You know? Friendly?"

Xiaolang laughed.

"I know what it means but it sounds so peculiar to hear you say it."  
Sakura frowned not quite understanding.

"Okay, I'll take the bait... why?"

"It just makes you sound like a little girl."

Now Sakura was really confused.

"Okay..." she said slowly.

Xiaolang saw that Sakura had no idea what he was trying to get at (and to be perfectly honest he wasn't sure what he was trying to do either) so he decided to drop the subject.

They stood there in comfortable silence for a while just admiring the treasures that Ryan had collected.

"You know," Xiaolang said suddenly, "This is probably the most interesting party I've been to in a long time."

"Yeah? Why?" Sakura asked surprised.

Xiaolang sent her a smile chock full of flirty goodness.

"Because you're here," he said his voice a warm whisper.

Sakura tried to stop herself but she couldn't help it. Her cheeks became a brilliant red as her heartbeat quickened.

"Ummm..." she stalled trying to think of something to say.

Xiaolang leant forwards as Sakura began panicking.

He's going to kiss me!! her mind screamed.

Sakura was confused.

She knew they shouldn't but a small traitorous part of mind wanted it.

She knew it would complicate things but her heart told her to go for it.

Her body... hell, it was screaming for it.

Sakura was utterly and completely lost for a good course of action.

Should she kiss him?

Or should she turn away?

I need time to think! Sakura thought desperately as Xiaolang leaned close towards her.

She wished desperately that someone would walk in and disturb the moment.

A few seconds later her wish came true...

But it had a nasty twist to it.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"So how are you going?" Meiling asked as she peered over Tomoyo's shoulder.

The whole computer screen was filled with numbers, letters and symbols. To Meiling it looked alien and seem to be the scrawling of a madman but Tomoyo seemed to be at complete ease as she typed hurriedly.

"Give me a sec," Tomoyo said calmly as she continued typing.

Meiling sighed in frustration and continued pacing the room.

"Got it!" Tomoyo yelled cheerfully as she hit the last key.

The numbers, letters and symbols faded away until a file appeared. Tomoyo quickly copied the file to her laptop's hard drive before quickly scanning it.

"It has the exact locations!" a happy grin spread across her face as she read the file.

"Where?" Meiling demanded.

"Mongolia... in the Altai mountains," Tomoyo frowned, "Wait a minute."

She typed in something and a map appeared on the screen. A blinking red dot came to life on the map.

"I'm guessing that's the location?" Meiling asked looking at the map.

"It sure is."

"Good," Meiling suddenly frowned, "How's Sakura doing?"

Tomoyo blinked realising she had just forgotten about her. She quickly minimised the file and brought up another one. This one was connected to the mini-camera in Sakura's necklace, from the screen Tomoyo could see everything that was happening. Suddenly she froze.

"What?" Meiling demanded.

Tomoyo swore loudly.

"Damn!"

"What?" Meiling peered over Tomoyo's shoulders and blinked slowly.

"Trouble," she murmured.

Tomoyo nodded.

"Big trouble."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura was still panicking as Xiaolang came in closer.

Oh god! What am I going to do? What am I going to do?

She was starting to pray for something to break this moment and to her immense relief something did happen. But her relief quickly faded to be replaced by shock and fear.

"FREEZE!" a loud voice yelled.

From the main room the sound of screaming and general panic could be held. Xiaolang suddenly stood up straight.

"What is going on?" he wondered more curious than alarmed.

Sakura frowned and the two walk hurriedly to the door leading to the main room. Sakura peered into the main room and gasped seeing what was happening.

A team of commandos stood in the doorways each one holding a fully automatic weapon. Sakura gritted her teeth knowing where she had seen them before.

The Paris museum...

"Spinnel..." she muttered in disgust.

Xiaolang was silent beside her as he watched the scene fold out before them. One of the commands strolled across the room as the rest of his team kept their weapons trained on the guests, which were stunned into silence.

"Ryan Trong?" the leader asked in a rough voice as he stopped in front of the man.

"Yes?"

"You're coming with me," the leader commanded.  
He turned around and gestured to his team. Two commandos peeled off from the main group and join him, together the trio kept the guns trained at Ryan as they led him upstairs.

"Damn it," Sakura growled.

_'Sakura?'_

"Tomoyo, can you two get here quick?" Sakura asked in a whisper trying not to draw attention to herself.

'We're on our way but you've got to stop the three commandos with Ryan. They're probably going to take him to the office and extract the information about the locations from him.'

"Got a plan?"

'A dangerous and fool-hardy plan... but yeah I've got a plan.'

"Good give it to me."

_'Alright,' _Tomoyo sighed, _'This is what you do...'_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Hmmm... guess what? Another CLIFFHANGER! Awww... Sakura and Xiaolang didn't kiss... you didn't think it would be that simple did you? (Evil grin) Well, you know what to do review!!

Next chapter:

Sakura and Xiaolang are stuck inside the mansion as the Spinnel commandos attempt to retrieve the location of the second book. Tomoyo and Meiling are rushing over as fast as they can as Sakura attempts a dangerous plan in order to halt the commandos' efforts. Will Tomoyo's plan work? And what is the significance of the key Sakura had stolen? Plenty of actions, twists and surprise in... _Talisman of the Sun_

A/Note:

Okay, in case you're wondering what Sakura's key looks like it looks rather like the Star Key in the original CCS series. However the key is a lot smaller but a little longer in shape and size. The whole key is made out of gold and will a major role in the coming chapters.

S/S fans... well sorry, but they don't kiss yet... ahhh... don't you love suspense?


	15. Talisman of the Sun

Sorry for the massive delay!! But please REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! I will not put up a new chapter until I get over 30 reviews! Syaoran's Angels

**Chapter 14: Talisman of the Sun **

There was an extremely long pause.

_'You're crazy,' _Sakura informed her.

Tomoyo shrugged and glanced at Meiling who was just staring up the engine. Shifting slightly in her seat to make herself more comfortable she turned back to the laptop she had in her lap.

"You got a better plan?" Tomoyo asked, "Spinnel Corporation mustn't get the location, no matter what happens you have to stop them."

Meiling eased out of the driveway as Tomoyo looked through the windshield at the busy Hong Kong road and sighed.

"Sakura?"

_'Yeah?'_

"You think you can pull it off?"

_'I have to,' _Sakura said darkly.

"Good luck."

Sakura sighed.

_'I'm going to need all the luck I can get.'_

Tomoyo nodded and turned to Meiling.

"When can we get there?"

"With this traffic?" Meiling sighed and resisted the urge to smash the steering wheel in frustration, "Twenty, thirty minutes."

Tomoyo barely resisted the urge to swear on the top of her lungs.

Come on Sakura, you have to pull it off...

You just have to...

Or all is lost

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura sighed.

"What is it?" Xiaolang asked her tersely, quietly.

"One of my co-workers just had a brainwave and came up with a dangerous, possibly suicidal plan but we have to do it."

"Why?"

"Spinnel must not get the location of the dig that Ryan funded."

Xiaolang nodded.

"So that's why they're here."

Sakura sighed and nodded.

"What's the plan?" Xiaolang asked.

Sakura smiled at him crookedly and told him. He was silent as she finished.

"It's dangerous."

Sakura shrugged and opened her mouth to reply.

"Shut up! No talking!" one of the commandos yelled pointing his gun at their direction.

Wisely they quietened down as Sakura studied the commandos closely. This was going to take an Oscar winning performance...

Suddenly with no warning at all her hand shot out and slapped Xiaolang loudly across the cheek. Everybody's eyes turned to her as she glared at Xiaolang.

"How dare you?" she spat, "So what now you bring up the fact that you are engaged? Just because we're going to die doesn't mean I'm going to forgive you!"

Sakura sent one last venomous glare at him and stalked up to the nearest commando, he hefted his weapon at her but Sakura continued strolling towards him.

"Can you take me away from that..." Sakura narrowed her eyes at Xiaolang, "That two-timing, cheating, lying scum bag? I want to get the hell away from him!"

The commando hesitated as Sakura got closer to him.

"Look, don't worry I'll just stand over there," Sakura pointed at a relatively empty corner.

She could see the man's eyes flick over to where she pointing. That one-second distraction proved costly as Sakura lashed out with her fist. Her knuckles slammed into his temple and he collapsed immediately. The other commandos immediately reacted pointing their weapons at her but Sakura grabbed the man before he fell to the ground and held him in front of her using him as a human shield. The man's body and Kevlar gearing should protect her from any bullets but if they all fired at her at once she was dead... literally.

She had to act fast. Seeing the man's automatic rifle, which hung from his shoulder on a strap, her eyes lit up as a wicked smile spread across her face. Before anybody could react she grabbed the weapon and pointed it at the ceiling.

She squeezed the trigger.

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

Some of the people on the ground screamed as bullets screamed through the air and smashed into the massive chandelier hanging from the ceiling. In a massive explosion of sparks and shattered glass crystals the chandelier plunged down to earth. Sakura leapt back as the chandelier smashed into the hard marble ground. The effect could only be described as explosive: metal crumpled as shattered glass chips shot out in all directions sparks burst from the broken chandelier like out of control firework rockets as Sakura smiled admiring her handiwork.

Sparks rained down from the exposed cables hanging from the ceiling, choking, blinding smoke filled the air as some of the people held captive screamed adding to the confusion. A shard of glass sliced into her arm but she ignored it instead opting to shove the man out of the way and whirling around sprinting towards the stairs. Below her the commandos were still disorientated from the exploding chandelier and smoke.

"SHOOT HER!" one of the commandos yelled.

Sakura cursed and put on an extra spurt on speed as commandos fired in her general direction. Bullets tore the carpets, walls and ceiling as Sakura ran as fast as she could, after what seemed like eternity she finally reached the landing. Sprinting across the exposed walkway she ran into the relative safety of the corridor.

"AFTER HER!" the same commando commanded.

Five of heavily armed men raced after her Sakura didn't waste any time instead ducking into the warren of corridors. She headed in the general direction of Ryan's office.

"What the hell?" one of original three commandos that had followed their leader suddenly appeared out of a hallway in front of her.

Sakura cursed as he hefted his weapon and fired. Her specially trained eyes and reflexes seem to watch the bullets in slow motion, she saw the individual bullets shrieking through the air. She immediately reacted leaping into the air flying above the path of the bullets. Her legs straightened as she lunged straight for the man, he realised what was happening and began to bring his weapon up but it was too late. Both her foot slammed into his chest as the weapon jerked out of his hands. She landed in front of her and leapt into a flying kick. Her high heel shoes slammed into his face as he went flying backwards. She landed nimbly and crouched there for a few seconds worried that their fight would draw unwanted attention.

No shouting, no footsteps racing towards her.

Sakura stood up slowly breathing heavily.

She paused for a second catching her breath before sprinting off.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo sighed in relief as Sakura took out the commando.

"Good job," she murmured.

_'Thanks.'_

"Turn to your right," Tomoyo ordered as she studied the map of Ryan's mansion that had appeared on her laptop screen.

"How is she?" Meiling asked worried.

"She's getting closer but I'm worried," Tomoyo said quietly.

"Why?"

"I think around six commandos are going after her."

Meiling growled in frustration and turned back to her driving.

"Turn left," Tomoyo murmured into her com-link.

Meiling turned the corner and sighed in relief sighing the relatively empty straight.

"We'll be there in five minutes."

Tomoyo breathed a sigh of relief and relayed the message to Sakura.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_'We'll probably get there in five minutes.'_

Sakura nodded and felt faint with relief.

"Hurry up and get here," Sakura muttered.

_'We're going as fast as we can.'_

Sakura nodded and continued running down the hallway.

"FREEZE!" a voice yelled.

Sakura sighed in frustration and disappeared into another hallway as the commando raced after her. Sakura took as many turns as she could but somehow the commando managed to stay on her tail.

She saw an open door and took the risk ducking inside. A few seconds later she heard the sound of footsteps running past the door but it faded away as the commando disappeared deeper into the house. Stealthily she opened the door and retraced her steps.

"Thought you could get away, didn't you?" a sinister voice murmured behind her suddenly.

Chills shot down Sakura's spine as cold metal touched the back of her neck.

"Put your hands up," the man snarled.

Sakura followed his instructions slowly raising her hands.

"Walk!" the man snarled pressing the barrel hard into her neck.

Sakura took several small steps forwards, the man snarled in frustration and grabbed her hair and tugged sharply.

"Walk faster," he growled letting go of her hair.

The Angel quickened her steps as the man continued to stalk after her the gun pressed firmly against her neck. They made it to a flight of stairs.

"Go down," the man commanded.

Sakura slowly descended down the stairs appearing to be silent and withdrawn the whole time but inside she was busy calculating and figuring out how to get rid of her opponent.

"Hey," she said suddenly, "You know Humpty Dumpty?"

"Shut up and keep walking," the man snarled.

"He had a great fall," Sakura turned around and grinned at him, "And so will you."

Before the man could react Sakura suddenly leapt down to the ground and grabbed his feet. With a powerful jerk the man went sprawling, panicking he pulled the trigger and bullets ripped giant holes in the ceiling. Plaster and dust descended on them as Sakura punched the man in the face.

Without bothering to find out if anybody heard them she ran up the stairs and disappeared back into the labyrinth of corridors and rooms.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo winced as she saw the man go down hard.

"Oooo... nice one," Tomoyo murmured into her com-link.

"We're almost there," Meiling announced as she turned a corner.

"Sakura, we're almost there," Tomoyo relayed to their fellow Angel.

_'Good, it's about time!'_

"Sorry."

Meiling swore as she saw a roadblock ahead. Two police cars with their blue and red siren lights flashing were parked horizontally across the street preventing anyone from going through. A policeman looked up to see them approaching and began strolling towards them. Tomoyo quietly clipped her laptop shut and casually slid it down to the car floor as she watched the man approach.

"Sorry, marm but this road is blocked."

"Can't we get through?" Meiling asked barely hiding her impatience and frustration, "It's really urgent."

"Sorry miss but we have orders."

Meiling sighed and toyed with the idea of ramming her car through the block for a few seconds but she knew that the officers were only doing their job and she couldn't injure them.

"I guess we have to find ano..." Meiling began.

Suddenly she narrowed her eyes as she noticed something unusual. The man's clothes had suspicious bumps beneath it; she glanced casually up at his opened collar and caught the sight of black Kevlar gearing. That was a bit unusual since police didn't usually wear Kevlar but then again if they were here because of the takeover at Ryan Trong's mansion... as Meiling inspected him more closely she noticed he was wearing a shoulder gun holster but the weapon inside was hidden behind his back. She casually opened her car door and got out. Pasting a fake smile on her face, she grinned at the man.

"Sorry but I've got to get my mobile phone out of my bag, which is in the trunk," she smiled at him apologetically, "My friend tends to get a bit annoyed if I don't tell her we're going to be late ahead of time."

"That's okay miss," the man smiled at him.

As she walked to her trunk, she casually glanced back and glanced at the gun slung across his back. Her smile froze as she recognised the model immediately. It was a semi-automatic, definitely not something a normal policeman would carry around in any circumstances.

She opened her trunk and pretended to rummage around. She closed it and walked back to the car door.

"Thanks officer," she smiled at him.

He smiled back at her as Meiling moved. Her fists whipped around with no warning smashing the man in the back of the head. He fell forwards as his face smacked into the car door, he slumped to the ground out cold.

"What the hell?" Tomoyo demanded, "Meiling!"

Meiling sighed.

"Tomoyo, he's carrying around a semi-automatic."

Tomoyo blinked at her not quite understanding. Meiling sighed, Tomoyo was a computer expert but she knew absolutely nothing about guns.

"No police carries around that particular model," Meiling gestured at the weapon, "And I bet you any sum of money that the model he's carrying is the same as the commandos inside the mansion."

"So this is a fake set-up?" Tomoyo asked pointing at the police cars.

Meiling nodded.

"Probably to make sure that people who hear gunshots thinks the police is taking care of it."

"So what do we do?" Tomoyo asked, "We've got to get through the roadblock."

Meiling grinned at her. Tomoyo sighed.

"You've got a plan?"

Meiling nodded.  
"Yeah but we better hurry before he's missed," Meiling pointed at the fake policeman.

Tomoyo listened carefully as Meiling explained her plan.

"If we pull it off it'll make Sakura's job a lot easier," she finished.

Tomoyo nodded.

"I like it."

Meiling grinned devilishly.

"Then let's get to it."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura resisted the urge to panic as the faint crackling that indicated the com-link was working suddenly disappeared. She kept calm thinking that Tomoyo must have stopped transmission for some important reason. At least she hoped that was what had happened.

No longer guided by her friend's instructions, Sakura relied on her instincts and headed roughly in the direction of the computer room.

She slipped into another corridor and stealthily padded down the carpeted walk away. She came to the familiar ebony door and gently pressed her ear to the wood. She could hear talking or more precisely shouting from within the room.

"Access your computers," a harsh voice commanded.

"I... I... can... can't!" Ryan spluttered.

"Do it," the voice growled again.

"Why?" Ryan asked, "I've got nothing precious in my computer!"

"Just do it or you're dead."

She could hear the sound of a chair creaking as Ryan sat in it. She could hear the soft hum of the computer as it began booting up. Sakura straightened and took a deep breath trying to figure out how to get inside and stop Ryan from giving the Spinnel commandos the location of the second book.

"Stop right there," a soft voice said behind her, "Turn around. Hands in the air."

Sakura froze and slowly followed the man's instructions. The man she thought she had beaten at the stairs stood behind her a little way back his weapon levelled at her head.

"Open the door and step inside," he commanded, "Don't try to fool me again or you're dead."

Sakura slowly turned around and twisted the doorknob and stepped inside as the man followed.

"What the hell?" the leader growled.

"This woman got away and tried to get here," the commando smirked as a mocking tone came into his voice, "So I thought I'd help her."

The leader was silent for a few seconds.

"Kill her," he commanded coldly.

Sakura's eyes widened as she whirled around ready to fight the man off but he was too far way for her to do anything. All she could was watch in horror as he aimed carefully and pulled the trigger.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Three bullets ripped into her stomach as she collapsed to her knees. She could dimly hear Ryan's panicked screams as the commando who shot her smirked at her in satisfaction. She looked down slowly and saw that her dress was soaked with blood; in stunned horror she looked up and stared into her killer before collapsing.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling smiled in satisfaction as she rammed the pseudos policeman's head into door and winced as she heard the loud crunch that resulted from the bone-on-metal contact. Tomoyo finished off her victim with a swift jab to the gut and knelt down onto the hard concrete and rummaged around in man's pockets and belt.

"Got it!" she said triumphantly holding up a set of keys.

Meiling rummaged around in other man's pockets and came up with a similar set of keys. Without batting an eyelid, she unlocked the false police car door and casually slipped in. She settled herself into the leather seat and hummed softly to herself as she started up the engine.

In the other car opposite her Tomoyo did the same. With expert ease, Tomoyo backed the car away slightly not really caring she was crushing some rich man's fence and garden in the process. She spun the hand wheel to the left and hit the gas, with a loud screech and leaving behind a black skid mark and the overpowering stench of burning rubber Tomoyo's car shot down the street closely followed by Meiling's car.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura was still very much alive.

But the pain...

It was as though every nerve in her body was on fire, as though needles had been punched through every section of her body.

The world around her was spinning around crazily but strangely Sakura felt very calm.

Her vision was blurring, She could taste the coppery taste of blood in her mouth and she could felt with frightening clarity her whole body slowly going limp and cold. She could felt the blood-soaked fabric of her dress cling against her rapidly cooling skin and thought ironically this was how her mother had probably died. Gunned down by enemy fire.

Wait what was that?

Sakura could felt a burning sensation against her spine. Had the bullets somehow hit her spine column as well? She could feel the burning sensation become more intense as she slowly flexed her fingers.

Half-dazed and slowly dying, Sakura moved her hand slowly. It was as though her hand had been encased in a block of concrete. It was so hard to move... so hard to breathe... so hard to think. Using all her will power, she slipped her hand beneath her dress and scramble around until she felt the secret pocket. Now that her sensitive fingertips were close to it, she knew that the burning sensations was radiating from there.

She frowned slowly and wondered dimly what it could be.

With shaking fingers, she slowly pulled the flap open and reached inside. Her fingers closed around the strange key she had stolen from this very office before.

Strange.

The metal was warm.

Not overly hot but several degrees warmer than it should have been. As her hand closed around it, it became even warmer. Sakura wondered if she was hallucinating now.

Just how much blood had she lost?

She felt so tired... so very, very tired. She closed her eyes to rest, to sleep.

_'No, you cannot sleep,' _a voice murmured to her.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open as she mumbled something weakly.

Who was that talking to her? Oh god, she must have lost litres of blood to be dreaming of voices now.

_'Awake, power of talisman! Talisman of the sun, awake and heal your wielder!' _the voice continued.

Sakura closed her eyes and could feel blackness claim her mind.

_'AWAKE!'_

Sakura's eyelids snapped open as she let out a strangled gasp. The key, which was still clutched in her stiff fingers suddenly heated up.

Power.

Pure power.

It flowed through her body chasing away the pain and numbness. Sakura could feel her mind slowly reawakening becoming more active as she wondered briefly what had brought along this change. The key! Sakura ripped it out from the hidden pocket and stared at it, it was now glowing brightly, throwing bright golden light on her palm and the floor. Entranced by the light and ignoring the cries of surprise from the commandos in the room, Sakura slowly looped the chain over her head and let the key hang around her neck.

She felt rested as though she had just had a good night's sleep. Energised if she had just consumed a swimming pool full of coffee and sugar. It pulsed through her body heightening her senses chasing away the pain and numbness that had invaded her body just moments before.

She slowly stood up balancing on two unsteady feet. She straightened and could feel the key becoming even warmer than before. The gold light became brighter making Sakura's green eyes glow and dance. She looked up and stared serenely into her almost-killer's eyes.

He panicked as this strange woman with the glowing necklace continued to stare at him, studying him but not doing anything else. Unnerved and feeling an incredible overwhelming sense of fear he hefted his weapon and jerked the trigger.

"DIE!!" he screamed suddenly.

The gun jumped to life spitting out dozens of metal bullets at a time. The bullets shot through the air aiming straight for Sakura's body.

It was strange.

She didn't panic.

She didn't even feel concerned.

She simply raised her hands and spoke.

"No," she said clearly, "No."

The key around her neck seemed to become even brighter than before as Sakura continued to stare at the bullets screaming straight at her calmly.

Just as they were about to hit her a glittering golden barrier suddenly burst to life in front of her. The bullets slammed into the barrier and exploded into harmless chips of metal.

"What the hell?" the commander screamed, "SHOOT HER! ALL OF YOU!"

The two other commandos in the room who had remained silent before jumped into action firing at her with an expert's aim and skill.

"Stop," Sakura commanded calmly not even knowing what she was doing.

More glittering barriers of gold light appeared and deflected the bullets.

"KILL HER! KILL HER!!" the leader ranted.

"No," Sakura's voice became louder, "STOP!"

An invisible breeze danced through her hair and ruffled her dress as Sakura glared at one of the commandos. An invisible force slammed the commando in the chest and sent him flying into the wall. His body smashed into wall punching through the plaster and insulation beneath. He fell forward and slumped to the ground completely defeated.

"Your turn," Sakura's trademark grin appeared on her face as she flicked her hand at the two other commandos.

Like before an invisible force grabbed the commandos and crashed them into the walls. Both collapsed as Sakura turned and walked up calmly to the leader. The leader backed away hurriedly staring at her in fear as he hefted his weapon, his shaky hands causing the weapon barrel to point in all directions.

"Sleep," Sakura commanded her voice calm and cool.

The commando blinked owlishly at her before collapsing to the ground. A few seconds later soft yawns filled the air. Sakura stepped over the prone man's body and walked to the mahogany desk.

Ryan stared up at her in fear.

"No! Please! Don't hurt me!!" he screamed in fear.

Sakura looked at him coolly.

"Sleep," she commanded.

Ryan immediately slumped forwards and was soon snoring as well. Sakura gently placed a hand on the back of his head and murmured again.

"Forget," she commanded as her key glowed brightly again.

Once that was done, she turned to the computer, which was still on. After a few second's pause, she touched the computer screen with her fingers.

"Melt," she simply said.

Suddenly the screen exploded showering Sakura with sparks. She didn't even flinch as she watched the screen and the rest of the computer equipment, even the mouse, slowly melt into a sludge of plastic and metal.

Sakura looked around the room at all the knocked out commandos and slowly slip a hand around the key hanging from her neck. She looked at it in wonder before slowly slipping the chain over her head. As soon as the key was away from around her neck, the metal suddenly stopped glowing and the metal went cold.

Sakura gaped at the harmless looking key and glanced down at her stomach. Her dress was still blood-soaked but as she poked a finger at the holes in her dress she was shocked and stunned to find no wounds. No, torn skin. No blood. No exposed muscles.

She gaped at the key.

"What the hell are you?" she asked the artefact as though it could answer her.

She looked down at her hands in wonder.

"What the hell am I?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling smiled in satisfaction as her hijacked police car rammed through the metal gates surrounding Ryan's mansion. She winced slightly at the sound of metal screeching on metal and wondered how the paintwork of the car was holding up against the protruding metal bars of the fence.

Probably not very well.

Suddenly right in front of her a troop of commandos appeared. She swore loudly as they all hefted their weapons. She ducked as they opened fire. Bullets zipped past overhead shattering the windshield and ripping giant holes in the hood of the car. Praying a stray bullet wouldn't find the fuel tank and cause an explosion Meiling floored the gas. Behind her she knew Tomoyo was doing the same.

Great minds think alike! she thought gleefully.

Meiling suddenly swerved to the left as Tomoyo's car swerved to the right. The commandos who were obviously expertly trained kept their weapons trained on them. A rain of bullets tore the metal of the side doors but luckily none actually punched through it.

In the other car Tomoyo winced as bullets shattered the side windows spraying her with shattered glass. But a small smirk appeared on her face as she swerved off the paved path and crushed a small row of hedges and countless flowers under her wheel. She hurriedly spun the hand wheel around and smiled as her car faced a small hill in the garden that led up to the front of the mansion just right of the front door. Meiling was on the other side, which was similarly landscaped but she was heading towards the left of the door.

Ignoring the bullets that was hammering into the trunk of the car and shattering the back window, Tomoyo floored the gas as the hill came rushing towards her. As though they had choreographed it, both cars hit the hills at the same time.

They shot up along the slope, the rubber tyres ripping away at the grass leaving behind muddy trenches in the ground.

Meiling was grinning like a maniac as she saw the front of the building approach. She floored the gas and watched with satisfaction as the speedometer shot up to hit the hundreds. The car hit the very top of the hill just before the ground evened out and Meiling's grin grew even wider as she achieved what she wanted.

The tyres left the ground as the car shot into the air.

Slowly, every so slowly the nose of the car tipped forwards until the whole machine was pointed at the large floor to ceiling windows lining the walls still doing well over a hundred. Meiling slid down into her sit as the car shot through the air like a giant metal spear as Tomoyo's car did exactly the same.

The window came closer... and closer... and closer... until...

"Bwissssshhhhhhh!!" with a loud crash metal hit glass as glass crumpled and shattered.

The car smashed through the windows with devastating force shattering the plasterboards of the walls nearby. With a sickening crunch the tip of the car hit the hard marble floor inside before gravity yanked the car and the whole thing shot forwards through the room tearing up more of the wall and anything unlucky enough to stand in its way. Meiling kicked open the door and smiled as she stepped out of the ruined car into a giant dust cloud of plaster dust, shattered marble and god knows what else. She waited calmly as she heard screaming and panicked voices from the room to her right.

"Hmmm..." Meiling noted with interested she had just slammed the whole car through the wall into the exhibition room where most of Ryan's collection of artefact had once been proudly on display.

She noted with sadness that many of those artefacts were now probably destroyed but hey, it was for a good cause.

She grinned devilishly knowing that the commandos would have a horribly time trying to figure out who to get her or Tomoyo. Not that she minded either way, those commandos were going down no matter what happened.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo grimaced as she surveyed the destruction in the room she had rammed through. It appeared to be an empty ballroom but now the whole thing was a giant demolition site of shattered marble, twisted metal and glass chips that crunched under foot as Tomoyo calmly sat on the hood of the now almost destroyed police car and waited.

She could hear the commandos yelling to each other and wondered which one of them would they come after. Maybe they would split up and go after both of them...

Tomoyo grinned.

That would make them weaker and easier to beat. Tomoyo smiled happily and waited. She could hear the sound of boots hitting hard marble as the voice became louder and clearer.

She stood up and dusted her hands on her jeans.

"Showtime!"

As soon as they kicked the damaged door open, Meiling was already in motion. Using the dust that still hung in the air as a smokescreen, she attacked quickly and viciously taking out two of them with quick jabs to the chest and head. Before anybody could react another commando was sent flying into the hard wall as Meiling smirked.

"K.O.! Game over! Try again!" Meiling dished out more punishment with quick fists and feet as more commandos poured into the room.

She smirked seeing that there were only a dozen commandos at most.

"Too easy," she yawned as she flipped a commando onto his back before kicking him in the head.

She ducked a wild swing from another commando before kicking him into a stomach with her right. Once again close quarter combat proved to be their downfall, being too close together they could do safely use their weapons without hitting their own team mate.

"You boys get a A for attempting but..." Meiling grinned evilly at the last commando, "...a F for actual performance."

She finished him off with a flying kick to the chest before landing lightly and running into the main hall.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo slammed the final commando's face into the hood of the car and winced hearing the sound of bone crunching against metal.

"Ouch!" she smirked, "I bet that hurts."

She dropped him and quickly checking that everybody was truly down and out she ran out of the room and into the main hall.

"Upstairs!" she yelled to Meiling seeing her appear out of another door.

Meiling nodded and began pushing past of the crowd of terrified people to the stairs.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" a voice yelled.

Tomoyo and Meiling whirled around in shock.

"FREEZE!!" a whole army of commandos were at the door their weapons all trained on them, "Go the centre of the room or we'll shoot!"

Meiling cursed loudly as Tomoyo growled in frustration. Slowly with great reluctance both Angels made it to the centre of the room as people backed away from them staring at the commandos in terror.

"They almost caused us this mission," the leader of the new batch of commandos snarled, "SHOOT THEM!!"

Meiling and Tomoyo watched with wide eyes as each commando took careful aim. Meiling's body tensed but even she couldn't dodge this many bullets.

"NOW!!"

All the commandos squeezed their triggers.

"NOOOOO!!" a familiar voice from somewhere behind them, "NOOOO!!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura sprinted down the stairs and sighed with relief as she made it to the stairs that led down into the main room. She froze as she saw her friends standing in the middle of the room.

"Meiling? Tomoyo?" she murmured.

She looked and gasped seeing the army of commandos standing in front of them.

"SHOOT THEM!!"  
"NOOOOO!!" Sakura screamed, "NOOOO!! STOP!!"

She watched in horror as bullets shot out from the weapons each one aiming straight for her friend. She closed her eyes as she tried to beat down her terror. Her friends would be killed... just like her... her... mother.

"NOOOO!! STOP!!" Sakura cried again.

Suddenly her body stiffened.

What the hell? Sakura looked down and to her shock saw the key was glowing again.

What the?!

She looked up and to her shock saw a familiar glittering gold shield sprung into existence repelling the barrage of steel bullets. Meiling and Tomoyo gasped and looked around in confusion looking for the source of their saviour. Their eyes fell on Sakura.

"SAKURA?!" they both gasped.

"SHOOT HER!!" the leader ranted as all commandos aimed and fired at her.

"STOP!" Sakura screamed.

A golden shield appeared in front of her as bullets slammed into it, gold energy flared and vaporised the metal as Sakura glared at the commandos.

"HOW DARE YOU?" she snarled, "GO!"

An invisible force slammed all the commandos to the ground pinning them there as Sakura's green eyes began a brilliant gold.  
"SLEEP!" she commanded her voice rumbling with power.

And to everybody's astonishment the commandos' body all relaxed as soft snores punctuated the air. Sakura's gold eyes faded away revealing her normal emerald as she looked around in shock.

"Sakura?" Tomoyo murmured softly, "Wha... wha... what did you do?"

She looked at them in horror as they slowly backed away from her afraid of her. She looked around and saw that everybody else was doing the same.

"Forget," she murmured, "Forget this ever happened."

Gold light flooded the room and all was forgotten.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Xiaolang Li picked himself up off the ground and looked around in confusion. The whole mansion was a giant ruin, he gaped at the destruction that was spread out around him. Slowly he turned around and gasped seeing a group of people dressed in Kevlar gearing and night vision goggles lying on the ground, seemingly fast asleep if their snores were anything to judge by.

He frowned.

What the hell just happened? he wondered as he looked around for Sakura.

He had brought the Angel here but now she had disappeared. Did that mean the mission had been a success? If that was the case...

Xiaolang... Syaoran had to get back to his headquarters. Quick.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"So you got it?" Tomoyo asked as they drove back to Meiling's mansion.

"Yeah," Sakura said distractedly.

Meiling frowned.

"What happened?" she wondered, "I remember fighting through the commandos and entering the main room but after that it's one giant blank. I mean I just suddenly seem to snap out of a trance and there they were... the commandos all asleep."

Sakura blushed.

"Umm... tha... tha... that was me..." she began hesitantly.

Tomoyo looked at her in surprise.

"What did you do?"

"Sleeping gas," Sakura lied, "One of the commandos were carrying canisters of them so I hurled them at the commandos. The fumes must have affected you."

Tomoyo nodded.

"Oh," she said before turning back around and staring at the road in front of them.

Sakura leaned back and sighed before ever so stealthily bringing her hand up to her neck and gently tracing the outline of the key through the fabric of her dress.

She knew what had happened.

She knew what she had done.

But how?

How did she do it?

Sakura wondered briefly what else the key could achieve and shivered as she thought what would happen if people like Malus Harrason ever got his hand on this artefact.

The damage he could do...

She shivered and knew in a sudden bright moment of realisation that she was meant do find it.

She was meant to wield it as the voice had said.

It was meant to be...

This was her destiny.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Next chapter:

As Sakura puzzles over what the key actually is, Tomoyo reveals the location of the second book and the three Angels are on their way. However not all is smooth sailing, the book is located within the site and the site is heavily guarded. Will the girls be able to infiltrate the site and retrieve the second book? But there is still one last obstacle standing in their way... finding out what happens in _Destined Angels. _

A/Note: Sorry for the massive delay in between each chapter but school had started up again and the homework has been pouring in! Since my exams are coming up you can unfortunately expect more delays.

A MASSIVE SORRY! But thanks for all your support!KEEP REVIEWING!!


	16. Destined Angels

SORRY!! Sorry for the massive delay between updates but do not despair holidays are here for me so I can write more and update more frequently! And thank you for all my loyal readers who have not given up hope!

Disclaimer: Don't owe anything but the storyline and various characters and objects are my creation.

Syaoran's Angels

**Chapter 15: Destined Angels **

Sakura played absently with the key that hung from her neck as she listened with half an ear to what Tomoyo and Meiling was saying.

"... the location of the book is the Altai mountains in Mongolia," Tomoyo was saying as Meiling threaded the car through the busy traffic as they headed back to the mansion.

"Oh really?" Sakura said distractedly.

Tomoyo exchanged worried glances with Meiling but didn't comment as Meiling pulled the car up beside the mansion. The three Angels got out the car and began walking up to the front door.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tomoyo asked worriedly glancing at Sakura's bloodstained dress.

"Trust me I'm fine," Sakura reassured him.

Tomoyo was sceptical but didn't comment as Meiling flung open the front door and the Angels strolled in.

"How did it go?" Fujitaka appeared from the shadows and immediately began firing questions at them.

"Mission accomplished," Meiling smirked.

Fujitaka glanced at Sakura and his frown deepened.

"Sakura, are you okay?" he asked.

"Fine," Sakura said vaguely.

She turned to the Angels.

"I'm going to take a shower," she announced walking up the stairs.

"Sakura," Tomoyo called, "Be quick about it. We're going to contact Syaoran soon."

"How's Haddock?" Meiling asked Fujitaka.

"He's fine but he's still asleep."

Meiling nodded as Sakura disappeared upstairs.

"What is wrong with her?" Fujitaka asked concerned, "Sakura seems really distracted and distanced."

Meiling and Tomoyo exchanged glances.

"We really don't know," Meiling said truthfully, "Ever since we left the Ryan Trong's mansion she's been acting real strange."

Tomoyo nodded.

"She seemed really freak about us almost getting shot..." she trailed off as she realised what she had just said.

Fujitaka stared at her.

"SHOT?!"

Sakura eased out of her ruined dress carefully taking out the disks from the hidden pocket. She stared into the mirror hanging on the bathroom wall absently playing with the key that hung from her neck.

"What are you?" she asked the key as though it could answer her.

She glanced at the mirror and stared at her own reflection.

"What am I?" she wondered.

She touched the smooth, unblemished skin of her chest and stomach and remembered how just hours ago it had been a massive wound of torn flesh and skin. She remembered the feeling of the bullets ripping through her body. She remembered the pain and the shock.

She closed her eyes as she relived that moment again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Flashback_

She had just been shot at.

The bullets had ripped through her stomach and now she was lying on the ground waiting for death to come.

It was as though every nerve in her body was on fire, as though needles had been punched through every section of her body.

The world around her was spinning around crazily but strangely Sakura felt very calm.

Her vision was blurring, She could taste the coppery taste of blood in her mouth and she could felt with frightening clarity her whole body slowly going limp and cold. She could felt the blood-soaked fabric of her dress cling against her rapidly cooling skin and thought ironically this was how her mother had probably died. Gunned down by enemy fire.

_End of Flashback_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura opened her eyes and stared at herself again. But then the key had started glowing and warming up and somehow, due to some weird force she had recovered and healed herself. And then she had disabled all the commandos without even breaking out a sweat.

Hesitantly she took the chain off from around her neck and gently placed it beside the washbasin and slowly got into the shower.

Once inside, she allowed the hot water to wash over her face and body and wished that it could reach inside her mind and sweep away all the confusion and pain inside and wash it down the drain where she would never had to worry about it ever again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Good evening, Angels," Syaoran greeted.

"Good evening Syaoran," Meiling and Tomoyo answered cheerfully as Sakura remained silent.

"Sakura, what happened inside the mansion?" Syaoran asked getting straight to the point.

Sakura jumped startled.

"What?!"  
"Xiaolang just contacted me and said you disappeared."

"Oh..." Sakura took a deep breath and lied again, "One of the commandos carried several canisters of sleeping gas and Meiling and Tomoyo were both in danger so I used them. The fumes must have caused some people to black out."

Syaoran was silent as though digesting that piece of information.

"Very well."

Sakura breathed a small sigh of relief as Syaoran accepted her story.

"Tomoyo, where is the location of the second book?"

Tomoyo took a deep breath.

"Ryan Trong's file seems to indicate that the dig is located in the Altai Mountains in Mongolia however the site is still heavily guarded."

Syaoran was silent.

"Is there any way you can get in?"

"Aside from infiltrating it by sneaking in I don't see any other way," Tomoyo sighed.

"Very well," Syaoran said, "Girls, go to the site and do some reconnaissance work before attempting to break in. Don't try anything foolhardy and leave as soon as the second book is in your possession. Any questions?"  
"No," Meiling replied.

"Good. Good luck with your new mission. Goodbye Angels."

"Goodbye Syaoran."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura walked into her room and began the relatively simple task of packing her bags. She shoved the few clothes she had with her into her bag, not really concentrating on what she was doing instead she was wondering about the key again.

"Cherry Blossom?"

"Father," Sakura said shortly without turning around.

"Are you okay?" Fujitaka asked tentatively, "I heard about the mission... are you hurt?"

Sakura turned around and stared at him her emerald eyes wide and sincere.

"I'm fine," she forced a smile, "Now can you please leave. I need to rest."

Fujitaka eyed his daughter suspiciously easily figuring out that she was lying. He hid a smile remembering just when Sakura was young she would always use the same wide bright eyes and fake happy tone when she was trying to hide something.

"How did the mission go?" Fujitaka asked conversationally.

"Fine."

"Really, it doesn't seem like it," Fujitaka noted raising an eyebrow.

Sakura sighed.

"Please dad, just leave."

"Are you still angry with me?" Fujitaka asked bluntly.

His daughter sighed and distractedly ran her long fingers though her auburn hair.

"I really don't know," she confessed, "I guess a little but I know why you did it... it's a bit confusing right now..."

Sakura blinked remembering something.

"Dad, do you know what really happened the night mom was killed?"

Fujitaka shook his head slowly.

"No," his voice was quiet and Sakura could detect the faintest trace of a tremor in it, "Not really."

Sakura took a deep breath.

"She was shot."

"I know," Fujitaka said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Kiyone thought that you betrayed her," Sakura said softly.

Fujitaka stared at her, his eyes wide and shocked.

"NO! NEVER! I would never do such a thing!"

"I know! I know!" Sakura said hastily cutting him off, "I told her you wouldn't do something like that. But do you know why she may believe that?"

Fujitaka sighed.

"I really don't know but I know I wouldn't do such a thing like that. I loved your mother," he smiled bitterly, "I still love her."

"I know that dad," Sakura murmured softly.

As if a silent message had passed between them, father and daughter both took a step forwards and wrapped each other into a tight hug. Sakura couldn't hold back anymore and let the tears spilled down her face her father hugged her tightly as Sakura sobbed into his chest.

"I'm ju... just... really, really confused right now," she hiccuped between sobs.

"Don't worry Cherry Blossom. I will always be here for you," Fujitaka promised hugged his daughter tightly to him.

Sakura nodded against his chest and stood still revelling in the safety of her father's arms. He might not have always been there for her when she was young but it was comforting to know that he would always be here for her now no matter what the future held.

No matter what happens in the days, weeks and years to come Sakura would always have her father and that was the greatest comfort of all.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Here's your ticket back to America complete with a fake passport," Sakura said handing the things to her father, "Once you get to America, Syaoran will move you to a secure location. I'll go and visit you when I get back."

"Be careful," Fujitaka warned.

Sakura smiled and nodded.

"I will."

With that Sakura turned around and opened the door.

"Come on! The plane leaves in half an hour," Meiling called.

"I'm coming!" Sakura sighed.

She slipped into the car as Meiling turned on the engine and began backing out of the driveway.

"Well, judging from the way you and your father were talking..." Tomoyo began.

"What is it?" Sakura asked rolling her eyes.

"You're okay with your mother's... umm..." Tomoyo trailed off searching for a polite term.

"Death?" Sakura asked.

Tomoyo nodded reluctantly as her teammate sighed and fidgeted. Meiling peered into the rear-view mirror and noted the sad look on her friend's face.

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Meiling said gently.

Sakura shook her head.

"No, I think it's better if I get it off my chest..." she sighed before confessing, "It's really confusing right now. On one hand I've accepted it or the other hand I really don't know what to do. I want to hunt down the bas... people who killed her but I don't know where to start."

Tomoyo turned around in her chair and smiled at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry with my intelligence..."

Meiling snorted as Tomoyo glared at her.

"And Syaoran's sources we'll find out."

Sakura smiled warmly at Tomoyo as she returned the grin.

"Soooo..." Sakura drawled a wicked smile appearing on her face.

"What?" Meiling asked suspiciously.

"I heard you phoning Marcus this morning," Sakura said innocently sending her a brilliant grin as Meiling glared at her reflection in the rear-view mirror.

"It was just a check-up call," Meiling protested as she made a right turn and pulled into a busy freeway.

"A 'check-up' call that lasted for half-an-hour and included a lot of giggling?" Sakura asked batting her eyelids, "Riggghhhtttt..."

"Meiling?" Tomoyo asked incredulously, "Giggling?"

"Like a schoolgirl," Sakura confirmed.

Meiling glared at Sakura again and wished she could get her hands on her as the American Angel grinned at her and batted her long eyelashes.

"So Xiaolang..." Meiling began.

"Okay! Truce!" Sakura cut in quickly.

Meiling smiled smugly as Sakura glared at her.

"So how did it go?" Tomoyo asked curiously.

Luckily Sakura was saved from answering as Meiling pulled into the airport car park. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief and slipped out of the car halting any further attempts by Tomoyo and Meiling to extract information on her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Four days later_

"You know what?" Sakura growled in frustration, "This is getting us nowhere."

Crouched down on the ground beside her, Meiling had to agree. They had arrived at the Altai Mountains four days before and had already located the archaeological dig but instead of infiltrating the dig they had opted to camp out instead spying on the hive of activity below.

"It's guarded pretty solidly," Tomoyo noted scanning the high barb-wired fences surrounding the dig.

The only exit and entrance to the dig was a heavy steel gate, which was always heavily guarded by patrolling guards.

"So its stalemate," Sakura said in disgust putting her binoculars down, "we can't get in."

"Hmmm... so what do we know about this dig?" Meiling asked.

Sakura sighed.

"It's heavily guarded. We can't get in. Oh and did I mention heavily guarded?"

Meiling rolled her eyes.

"Anything else?"

"Well..." Tomoyo began thoughtfully, "There's that supply truck that comes every two to three days."

Tomoyo stopped as Sakura and Meiling grinned at each other.

"Supply truck?" Tomoyo asked with a sigh.

"We could always slip into the truck and smuggle ourselves in," Sakura suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Meiling grinned.

Tomoyo sighed and resigned herself to fate as her fellow Angels schemed and plotted.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling heaved the last log onto the narrow dirt track and dusted her hands off smiling as she studied the large pile of rocks, wood and other material she had scavenged from the mountains stacked across the road forming a formidable barrier.

She smirked as she spoke into the radio she held in her hands.

"Phase one complete."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Mongolian curses filled the air as the truck pulled to a noisy halt. The drivers got out and studied the barrier blocking their way and more curses flew into the still night air.

"Tsk, tsk," Sakura tutted, "Such language."

Like three silent shadows the Angels slipped down the rocky slopes bordering the small dirt track and as the drivers began heaving the logs and rocks away they stole into the back of the truck hiding themselves amongst the crates, barrels and boxes inside.

"That was easy," Sakura noted in the silence of the truck.

"Shut up," Meiling growled as Sakura sighed and settled herself for an uncomfortable ride.

After several more minutes of sitting in the dark, the girls could hear the truck door open as several people climbed in. The whole truck shook as they slammed the door shut. After a few more minutes they could hear the engine being turned on and with a loud splutter the truck began moving again.

It was not the most comfortable truck to be in especially in the back and the road was not the smoothest surface either. As a result the girls felt every jolt and bump as their bodies slammed painfully against the hard walls of the truck or the equally solid crates and boxes that littered the storage area. So it was with great relief when ten minutes later, the girls could hear more shouting and followed by the unmistakable rattling and banging of the heavy metal gate guarding the dig opening allowing the truck to drive through.

"We got to slip out as soon as possible, okay?" Meiling called her voice barely a whisper.

Tomoyo and Sakura nodded even though Meiling couldn't see them but she got the message.

As soon as the truck stopped, the Angels moved slipping through the canvas flap covering the opening. Meiling landed silently on the balls of her heel as she glanced around quickly checking for any signs of life. Luckily it was late and not a soul could be seen.

"All clear," Meiling whispered back to her friends.

She dashed hurriedly across the exposed ground and slipped behind a hastily built hut of some kind as her fellow Angels followed her.

"So we're in," Sakura muttered, "Now what?"

"We search," Meiling said grimly.

"We better split up," Tomoyo murmured, "Thirty minutes and we meet up here again. Okay?"

Sakura and Meiling nodded.

"Let's move."

With that the three Angels slipped back into the shadows.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Stealthily Tomoyo stole throughout the dig noting the positions of particular buildings and tents.

"Now where would they put the artefacts?" Tomoyo murmured as she strolled through the camp carefully staying in the shadows.

She sidled along the rough wooden wall of one building carefully ducking under one window from which bright light spilled out and noises of drunken shouts and laughter could be heard.

"Hmm... this looks promising," Tomoyo stopped in front of large wooden building that stood roughly in the centre of the whole compound.

The windows were all dark and all within was silent. Carefully Tomoyo stepped onto the wooden steps leading up the building carefully testing her weight onto each plank of wood before stepping onto it just in case the wood was squeaky and she definitely didn't want to alert the whole camp to her presence.

Standing on tiptoes she peered into the dark room but she couldn't make out much. With a sigh, she walked over to the door and tried the doorknob.

"Click."

Tomoyo sighed in resignation. It was locked.

"Where's Sakura when you need her?" Tomoyo muttered wishing the American Angel was here so she could pick the lock.

Deciding to investigate it later with Sakura in tow, Tomoyo turned around... and walked straight into a warm, solid body.

"What are you doing here?" a deep male voice asked puzzled, its owner looking at her strangely.

Tomoyo froze.

Uh oh

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling crept through the shadows occasionally peering into several windows but so far no luck.

"Can't they have signposts in this place?" Meiling growled in frustration.

She peered into another dark window and sighed when she saw nothing.

"This is really getting annoying," Meiling muttered rubbing her temples.

Silently, the Asian Angel continued stealing through the camp but her luck didn't improve, as she saw nothing that even hinted where the location of the book was.

"This sucks," Meiling sighed as she leaned against a wall taking a small break.

Suddenly her whole body stiffened as she felt a cold, hard metal blade press against the side of her neck.

The wielder of the blade muttered something in Mongolian to her. Meiling took several seconds to translate the message.

"Where is the book?" Meiling repeated slowly.

She sighed and tried to move but a rough hand on her arm stopped her arm.

"Why don't you tell me," she muttered sarcastically, "Cause I really want to know too."

The blade pressed down harder on her neck as Meiling froze.

"No sense of humour?" Meiling quipped refusing to panic.

Her attacker swore in Mongolian and his other hand let go of her arm hurriedly instead grabbing her neck in a vicious grip slamming her back against the wall as Meiling grimaced in pain and the rough wood of the wall biting into her back.

"Ouch," she growled, "that hurt."

In a blinding move too fast to see Meiling broke free of the man's grip and lunged forwards snapping his head backwards with a vicious kick. The man landed nimbly onto his feet as he glared at her his knife held tightly in his left hand.

Meiling shifted into a fighter's stance and to her surprise the man did the same moving expertly into a crouch every part of his body ready to lunge and attack.

"Well, well, this will be interesting," Meiling had enough time to say before the man lunged at her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Spinnel contacted us again."

Sakura froze and crept back to the building she had just past. Leaning against the wall pressing her ear against thin wooden walls she eavesdropped.

"What did he want now?" a man demanded.

The woman who had spoken first replied after a few minute's pause.

"He wants the book... now."

"Tell him we can't," another woman snapped, "It's impossible to sneak anything out with so much bloody guards around."

"He said by next week or the deal is off," the other woman growled.

"Damn!" the man growled, "Can't he be more patient?"

Sakura frowned. If Spinnel Corporation had spies within the dig why would they try to steal the location of the dig from Ryan Trong's mansion? She froze as she remember what her father had told her, none of the archaeologists in the camp knew where the location of the dig was. They had been transported here in secret but if that so then the invasion of the mansion meant...

Sakura gasped. Spinnel was running out of patience, they had been planning to invade the dig themselves and seize the book by force. With that in mind, Sakura was even more determined that she wouldn't leave the dig without the book, if they left it here any longer Spinnel would find some way to get it either by spies or by force.

She quickly began listening again as the people inside the building began talking again this time their voices becoming louder and angry.

"Tell Spinnel if he doesn't pay up soon, we'll take the book ourselves and destroy it!" the man growled.

There was a scraping of wood on wood as the woman suddenly stood up shoving her chair aside.

"You tell him," she said frostily, "If you steal the book and destroy it, you're as good as dead."

"He can't harm me," the man spluttered.

"Really?" the other woman snapped, "I seriously doubt that."

Their voices became softer as Sakura pressed harder against the wall trying to pick up everything they were saying.

"Look, we'll stick with our original plan," the woman growled, "We steal the book tomorrow night and get out of here. We'll hold people hostage and threaten to kill them if they don't allow us to go."

"You are bloodthirsty," the man muttered admiration obvious in his voice.

"So what? Our lives depend on this now," the woman snapped.

Sakura had heard enough. She was going to stop these people once and for all. Stealthily she crept around the side of the building until she reached the door. Trying to knob, she was surprised to find it was unlocked. The American Angel rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Amateurs," she said coldly as she stepped into the room.

"What the?" the man yelled seeing her at the door.

One of the women whirled around as Sakura grinned at them.

"Surprise," she chirped smiling wolfishly at them, "I need info and you better give it to me."

With that she lunged forwards and tackled the woman down to the ground.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Who are you?"

Uh oh

Tomoyo froze as her mind worked frantically trying to come up with a lie. The man continued to look at her strangely as Tomoyo grinned weakly at him.

"Hi," she said limply.

"Are you new here?" the man asked curiously.

"YES!" Tomoyo yelled a bit too loudly relieved that the man had come up with a lie for her, "I mean... sorry... yes I am... new here."

The man smiled at him warmly.

"I'm David," the man said cheerfully, "What's your name?"

"My name?" Tomoyo asked hesitantly.

"You have a name don't you?" David asked teasingly.

Tomoyo nodded smiling at him.

"I'm Felicity," Tomoyo lied smoothly, "How do you do?"

"Very well," David grinned at her, "Trying to find your way around?"

"Yeah, I am," Tomoyo sighed, "It's just too big. I don't know anything about this place."

"Want a tour?" David asked easily.

Tomoyo grinned at him.

"That would be great," she replied grinning at him gratefully.

"So what do you want to see? Not this surely," David gestured towards the building they were standing in front of them.

Tomoyo put an innocent look in her eyes and blasted her with her sweetest smile batting her eyelids at the same time, the picture of innocence.

"Why?"

"Because this is the dining hall," David laughed.

Tomoyo allowed a blush to stain her features.

"Oh."

"So what do you want to see?"

Tomoyo pretended to pause and think for a few moments.

"I would really like to see the..." she trailed off pretending to be shy.

"See what?" David urged gently.

Tomoyo sighed.

"I just really want to see the artefacts," she blinked at him innocently allowing just the right amount of sincerity into her voice, "I want to see what kind of things you already find."

"Well then come right this way," David grabbed her hand and led her off to another part of the camp as Tomoyo grinned to herself.

I still got it she grinned applauding herself for her little performance.

She definitely deserved an Oscar for that.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling studied her opponent carefully as she easily fought off his first lunge. Grabbing his left wrist she stopped his powerful thrust with the knife before kicking him in his exposed ribs flinging him away she was surprised to see the man recover expertly

"Nice clothes," she muttered.

The man was wrapped from hard to toe in some kind of black material that made him look like some kind of ninja, there was a slit in the fabric for his eyes, which was now fixed on her studying her carefully. His black boots were made from some kind of soft fabric that made no noise as it touched the ground and the only hint of colour on his clothes was from the black silk vest he wore around his chest, which displayed a roaring dragon and a soaring phoenix created from gold and red thread that captured the faint light from the moon above and threw it back into the night amplifying it making it glow as the man moved.

"Who are you?" Meiling snapped as the man lunged again.

Meiling twisted her body barely missing the man's wide swipe with his knife. She grabbed his left arm before he could yank it away but was caught off guard as the man kicked her heavily in the stomach. The air shot of her body as Meiling grimaced in pain and gasped for breath but gamely she held onto his arm knowing that if she let go he would slice her to ribbons.

She gripped his left arm tightly and shoved her hip into his gut and yanked with all her strength. The man went flying over her shoulders and landed heavily onto the rocky ground causing a small cloud of dust to burst into air as Meiling took a step backwards quickly checking for any wounds but she seemed in one piece.

The man leapt up nimbly yelling something at her in Mongolian.

"Intruder?" Meiling translated cocking an eyebrow, "Coming from you that's a bit hypocritical isn't it?"

The man growled at her and in one smooth fluid motion, he hurled the knife at her. The blade cartwheeled through the air as Meiling smiled coldly.

"Oooo... shiny," she sneered as she caught the knife deftly gripping the sharp blade between her thumb and index figures.

She smiled enjoying the shocked look in the man's eyes as she hurled it straight back at him. The man moved to dodge the weapon but was too slow as the blade zipped back tearing a jagged tear in the cloth around his right shoulder and leaving behind a bleeding wound before thudding into the wooden wall of a nearby building, the whole blade wobbling with the force of the throw.

The man growled in pain as Meiling narrowed her eyes at him.

"End match," she growled taking a menacing step forwards.

Her attacker glared at her before whirling around and sprinting off back into the shadows as Meiling growled under her breath and gave chase.

She tailed him as he sprinted into the narrow street between two wooden buildings. The man whirled around and through the faintly see-through fabric surrounding his mouth Meiling could see the faint outline of a smile.

"Huh?" Meiling wondered as she came to a screeching halt.

Her attacker leapt to the side planting his leg into the wooden wall boosting himself up into the air. His other leg shot up and slammed into other wooden wall boosting himself up further into the air. Alternating his kick and the walls, he soon leapt into the night air and landed nimbly onto one of the building's walls as Meiling gasped grudgingly admiring the man's skill.

"Cool," Meiling murmured as the man sprinted across the roofs leaping from one to another until he disappeared from her view.

Who was that man? she wondered.

Suddenly her ears picked up the sounds of approaching feet and with a long sigh, Meiling slipped back into the shadows.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura crashed to the ground using the woman as a cushion against the hardness of the ground ignoring the jarring pain of slamming into the table leg and the choked scream of the woman beneath her she slammed the woman's head into the ground knocking her out cold.

Before the man and the other woman could react, Sakura leapt up and lunged onto the table before launching a flying kick that sent the other woman flying out of her chair and slamming painfully into the wall. She slumped to the ground knocked out cold, Sakura landed nimbly on the other side of the table and whirled around grabbing the back of the man's neck and slamming him into the table in one fluid motion.

"Do you work for the Spinnel Corporation?" Sakura growled.

"Let go of me you b..." the man blustered.

Sakura tightened her grip on his neck cutting him off.

"Do you?" Sakura growled.

"Yes."

"What did he want you to do?"

"A man approached me willing to pay big money if I joined this dig and stole the book and give it to him," the man snarled, "Now let go before I aler..."

"Where is the book?" Sakura asked dangerously cutting in.

"I'm not going to tell you," the man snapped defiantly.

"Where is it?" Sakura demanded tightening her grip.

"Go to hell," the man said viciously, "Let go of me! GUA..."

Sakura get him off slamming his face into the hard wood of the table. His body became limp as Sakura let go of him.

With one last glare at the man, she slipped out of the room and disappeared back into the darkness of the night.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Wow," Tomoyo muttered under her breath.

"Impressive isn't it?" David asked.

"What is this?" Tomoyo asked looking around.

"Well, originally we thought that this area was what used to be a camp for Mongolian raiders that was covered over in a landslide but as we dug further down we actually discovered this," David explained, "It seems to be some kind of temple that has sunken into the ground."

Tomoyo looked around shocked into silence. David had led her down a long flight of roughly constructed wooden stairs and now they were standing in the centre of some kind of underground building. By some twist of nature, everything was preserved perfectly. Tomoyo could still faintly see glimpses of ancient paintings decorating the walls; many of the pillars holding up the ceiling were still intact whilst others had crumbled to dust. She could make out an altar of sorts lining one wall and turned to David.

"Was this a religious place of some sort?" she asked.

David nodded.

"It appears to be so but it's not any religion we've seen before," he gestured towards the walls, "The paintings on these are actually a story of some sort."

"What do they say?" Tomoyo asked.

David laughed.

"From what we gather it seems to be a prophecy of some sort."

"What prophecy?" Tomoyo urged.

"From what I can remember... it goes something like this..." David took a deep breath and began reciting.

_'Three Angels descended from the heavens shall come in the new age,_

_One shall be a fighter,_

_The other a flower,_

_The third a fox, cunning and watchful._

_They shall possess the three:_

_One the sun and the key,_

_Another the earth and the sword,_

_The third the moon and the mirror._

_Only they can stop the shadow book,_

_For if it is opened then shadows will engulf the world,_

_All hope, dreams and love will vanish devoured by darkness,_

_And evil shall reign for all eternity.'_

Tomoyo stared at him in shock, her mind working furiously.

Angels...

A fighter... Meiling.

A flower... Sakura.

The third... that was... her.

But how?

"Do any of you know what that actually means?" Tomoyo asked hiding her turbulent thoughts expertly.

David shrugged.

"Honesty? We have no idea. It's probably just some kind of ancient Mongolian legend."

"And the artefacts themselves?" Tomoyo asked politely.

"Right this way," David said cheerfully as he walked up the flight of stairs with Tomoyo trailing after him, her mind working furiously trying to decipher the ancient Mongolian prophecy.

The three... Tomoyo blinked. It must mean the three books...

The key?

The sword?

The mirror?

What did they mean and most daunting of all, the shadow book? What was that? Evil shall reign for eternity? Tomoyo shoved her thoughts aside as she took a deep breath and pretended to be interested as David led her into another building.

"This is where we put all the things we find," David explained, "There are some really precious ones amongst the other... trinkets. This for example."

Tomoyo snapped out of her reverie as she finally realised what she had been staring blankly at for the last few minutes.

It was the book!  
Tomoyo sucked in her breath easily recognising the book from the photo Sakura had shown them days before. She was sure of it this was the book: the second book, the book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die, the book of the Ruby Butterfly.

"This is really amazing because we have no idea what it is," David was saying, "We studied the text within but it is written in a totally new language to us."

Tomoyo cleared her throat.

"David?"

"Yes?" David asked turning around.

He didn't even have time to blink as Tomoyo's fist slammed into his face.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura sighed.

"So you met this really strange guy that asked you where the book is and menaced you with a knife?" she asked incredulously.

Meiling nodded.

"Wow, this place keeps getting weirder," Sakura muttered, "I discovered some Spinnel spies in this place."

"Spinnel spies?" Meiling looked at her incredulously.

Sakura nodded.

"I tried to get info from them but I had to knock them out when one started crying for the guards."

Meiling nodded and looked around. She glanced at her wristwatch and sighed.

"Where's Tomoyo? She's late."

"I'm here," Tomoyo announced as she appeared behind them stepping out from the shadows.

"Is that?" Sakura asked staring at the thing in Tomoyo's hands.

"The book?" Tomoyo smirked, "Yeah."

She sobered quickly.

"I got some other piece of news as well."

"Okay but tell us when we get out of here," Meiling ordered, "This place is giving me the creeps."

Sakura and Tomoyo had to agree with her and soon they began heading back towards the truck keeping to the shadows. Meiling knelt beside one building and looked around.

"Seems clear," she muttered as she slipped out from the cover of the building followed by Sakura and Tomoyo and crept across the exposed ground towards the truck.

"FREEZE!" someone yell at them in Mongolian.

All the Angels froze.

"Oh..." Sakura swore loudly.

"RUN!" Meiling yelled as they dashed across the courtyard passing the truck and ducking back into the labyrinth of wooden buildings. An alarm sounded through the compound as the sound of hard boots slapping the ground echoed through the whole camp as guards began searching for them.

"How do we get out of here?" Tomoyo hissed, "The gates are probably heavily guarded by now!"

Meiling grinned at her.

"I know a way."

Sakura and Tomoyo exchanged worried glances as Meiling led them further into compound. She stopped in a narrow alleyway bordered by two wooden walls that belong to two separate buildings standing on either side of them.

"And this is supposed to help?" Sakura asked, "This place is a trap!"

Meiling smiled at her before leaping up into the air. Tomoyo and Sakura gasped in astonishment as Meiling kicked one wall of the building launching herself higher. Her other leg gripped the other wall and pushed off sending her higher. Several kicks later, Meiling was perched on top of the building roof grinning down at them.

"Well are you coming?" she asked.

Tomoyo and Sakura shrugged and quickly copied their teammates movement.

"Come on!" she hissed as she sprinted across the roof.

From below came cries of surprise and anger as Meiling swore. Sakura and Tomoyo quickly dashed after her as they heard the unmistakable sound of guns being loaded.

"Uh oh," Sakura muttered.

Bullets tore the roof sending splinters flying into the air as Sakura and Tomoyo ran for their lives.

"THERE!" Meiling yelled as more bullets slammed into the wood around them.

"WE'RE GOING TO LEAP OVER!?" Sakura yelled, "ARE YOU NUTS?!"  
Meiling ignored her as she hit the last roof and leapt with all her strength. The Asian Angel sailed off the barbed wires lining the top of the fence and landed neatly on the side as Tomoyo and Sakura looked at each other before sprinting at break-neck speed towards the fence.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!" Sakura yelled as she leapt over.

Ever the gymnast, Sakura did a quick flip in the air before landing expertly in front of Meiling. Tomoyo wasn't as graceful but still managed to land on her feet as more cries of surprise filled the air as the guards aimed their weapons through the fence determined to mow them down.

The three Angels didn't even bother to talk as they sprinted towards the safety of the Altai Mountains wilderness as bullets ricocheted off the hard rocky ground spraying the girls with rock chips.

But it was too late.

They were free.

And they had the book.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"That was insane," Sakura gasped as they finally stumbled back to their camp.

"But we did it didn't we?" Meiling asked.

"Barely," Tomoyo muttered holding the book up, "I think we better head back to American tomorrow."

"I hear you," Sakura said wearily, "I want out of this wilderness as soon as possible."

Suddenly the calmness of the night was ruined by a soft neighing sound. All the Angels froze.

"What the?" Meiling muttered, "A horse? Out here?"

Cautiously they scanned their surroundings with expert eyes.

"It's probably nothing," Sakura muttered.

"You know she's prob..." Tomoyo began.

"SAKURA!" Meiling roared.

Sakura gave a small gasp of surprise as something heavy and warm slammed into her back sending her flying. Meiling and Tomoyo glanced in horror at their friend as the sound of hoof striking rock filled the calm night air.

"What on earth?" Tomoyo gasped.

They were surrounded. Meiling growled as she caught her first clear glimpse of their attacker. A ring of horses with men perched on their backs appeared from the shadows circling their camp carefully leaving no gaps for them to escape. Meiling glared at them recognising their clothing and the vest they wore. The roaring dragon and soaring phoenix... they were dressed exactly the same as the men she had fought earlier.

"Who are these people?" Tomoyo muttered.

"I fought one of them earlier," Meiling muttered back.

"The book!" one of the men roared in Mongolian.

Tomoyo glanced down at the book she held in her hands.

"No!" she yelled back.

"GET THEM!" the man commanded.

The horses all charged straight for them as Meiling and Tomoyo shifted into fighter's stance but they were outnumbered and the men had the advantage with their extra height. One man kicked Tomoyo in the ribs as she keeled over in pain gasping for breath. Meiling was sent sprawling as one horse rammed into her head.

"MEILING!" Tomoyo yelled as Meiling hit the ground heavily.

She looked up in time to see a black boot descended onto her face. Pain roared through her whole body as Tomoyo felt herself fly through the air.

"Crunch!"

She hit the hard rock ground and all went black.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Oh no! Are the Angels finished? (No way!) But who are these mysterious horsemen and what did that prophecy mean? You'll just have to wait for the next chapter (grins evilly). I will not update until I have 20 more reviews!

Next chapter:

As the Angels wake up realising the book is gone, they track down their attackers and are amazed to stumble upon a Mongolian Temple. A mysterious woman inside the temple makes a pact with them: they can have the Book of Hong Bai Shi Hu Die... but on one condition, they must past an ancient test that tests every skill they possess... find out what happens next in _Rite of Passage._

A/Note: Sorry for the massive delays between updates but trust me it has been a very busy few months for me. Exams and homework but finally they're over so I'm free! Free to write!

Oh yeah in the next chapter, another character created by a winner of Syaoran's Angels competition will feature so watch out for that!


	17. Rite of Passage

Sorry about the long deal but here it is the next chapter of Syaoran's Angels.

Disclaimer: you know the drill.

I will not update until I have 20 REVIEWS! So review!

Syaoran's Angels

**Chapter 16: Rite of Passage**

Sakura opened her eyes and was immediately blinded by the bright morning sun glaring down on her. Groaning and trying to ignore the throbbing pain inside her head, she struggled to get up her whole body screaming at her to stop.

"Ugh..." she groaned rubbing her eyes, "What ha..."

She froze remembering what happened.

The horsemen!

"Meiling? Tomoyo?" she yelled looking around frantically, "Mei..."

"I'm here," Meiling croaked as she scrambled to her feet as she tenderly rubbed her temple.

"You okay?" Sakura asked worriedly running across the rocky ground to her friend.

Meiling sat down hurriedly as her vision blurred, groaning in pain she stretched her muscles protesting against her movements. After a few more moments of gingerly poking her body, she nodded.

"I'm fine... I think."

Sakura looked around and suddenly turned back to Meiling.

"Where's Tomoyo?"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

The sound of someone speaking Mongolian rapidly jolted Tomoyo from her sleep. Shaking off her fatigue she looked around trying to figure out where she was.

"Hush," a soft voice murmured in English, "She's wake."

Tomoyo could hear the sound of boots against wood as somebody walked away. A soft hand touched her face as the woman had had spoken before began humming under her breath.

"Open your eyes," she said gently, "I know you're awake."

With a deep sigh, Tomoyo opened her eyes and stared into a pair of amused hazel eyes. As the woman staring down at her moved, the light glanced off her eyes revealing flecks of emerald green in her hazel pupils.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully with a bright grin.

Tomoyo blinked in confusion.

"Whe... wher... where..." she began stammering in astonishment trying to get up.

Grabbing her shoulder in a surprisingly strong grip, the woman pushed her back onto the bed.

"Calm down," the woman advised, "As for your stammering question, you're in the Temple of Shaolin in the Altai Mountain wilderness."

Tomoyo stared at her shocked. Suddenly she remembered the events of the night before.

"The horsemen!" she yelled, "You sent them! Where are my friends? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM?! I WANT TO SEE THEM RIGHT NOW!"

The woman smiled at her, amused as though Tomoyo was a young kid who had just done something really stupid.

"Dear, when you are held captive its not good to yell and curse at your captors," she advised with a small smile, "It doesn't help your cause and it could lead to a lot of pain. And your friends were left behind so they should be fine. They just got knocked out and should be awake by now."

Tomoyo took a deep steadying breath and stared up at this strange woman, who seemed more like a friend than enemy.

"Who are you?"

"Let me introduce myself," the woman smiled, "My name is Nivaline Sarah Thomas."

"Okay..." Tomoyo muttered, "Is that name supposed to mean something?"

"I'm a member of the Elders that rule this temple," Nivaline continued ignoring Tomoyo's comment, "I was born in America to an African-American mother and I'm forty although I don't really like to think about my age. I like kids and I had a... very interesting and extremely peculiar occupation back when I was living in America. I migrated to Mongolia a few years ago and stumbled upon this temple whilst trekking these mountains and after a few short months here I was given the position of an Elder."

Tomoyo stared at her.

"I'm taking a really wild guess but you're not like normal kidnappers," she noted, "You're too nice. I mean even normal people don't tell me so much about themselves when we first meet."

Nivaline laughed.

"I'm not like a 'normal' people," she said cryptically her eyes flashing.

"So what was that interesting occupation you had?" Tomoyo asked genuinely curiously.

The woman stared at the Japanese Angel carefully studying her with her hazel-green eyes. Suddenly she gave Tomoyo a small smile as if the younger woman had passed some kind of silent evaluation. In turn the Angel watched her carefully as Nivaline sighed and toyed with her long strawberry blonde hair.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said shortly.

"I'm held captive in a ancient Mongolian Temple set out in the wilderness of the Altai Mountains after being kidnapped by horsemen in the middle of the night," Tomoyo said dryly, "I think I'll believe anything."

Nivaline gave her a small mysterious smile.

"I was an Angel."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Hurriedly pulling on a thick black jumper, Sakura completed changing into fresh clothes and turned to Meiling who was waiting for her.

"What do we do?" Sakura asked asking the question that was on both of their minds.

Meiling answered without blinking.

"We track them."

"How?" Sakura asked curiously as Meiling began searching their campsite.

"This is how," the Asian Angel said triumphantly pointing at a small shrub poking out from a crack in the hard rocks.

Sakura stared at Meiling and wondered briefly if the knock Meiling had received from the horse hadn't damaged her head as well.

"Excuse me?" Sakura stared at her friend worriedly, "Are you okay? Did you knock you head or something?"

Meiling rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration.

"Look!" she commanded.

Sakura glanced down at the plant and studied it closely this time, expertly she noticed that most of its branches and thin needle-like leaves had been trampled into the rocky ground.

"It's been trampled," she said slowly.

Meiling nodded eagerly.

"It proves that at least one horse had stood here. We look around and I bet you we can locate more clues like this," she said confidently.

Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes towards the bright azure skies.

"This is going to take a long, long time," Sakura warned as her emerald eyes expertly swept the surrounding area.

Meiling stared at her, cocking an eyebrow as she crossed her elbows.

"You have a better idea?"

Sakura shook her head and with a final sigh began searching.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Tomoyo blinked at Nivaline stunned to silence. The woman stared back at her calmly, a mysterious smile dancing across her lips. The Japanese Angel took a deep breath.

"What kind of Angel do you mean?" she asked hiding her surprise carefully, "A god-sent-me-here-from-the-heavens Angel or a I-work-for-a-guy-I've-never-seen-before-but-sends-missions-to-me-and-my-friends-through-a-voice-box Angel?"

"The I-work-for-a-guy one," Nivaline said calmly her eyes alert and weary.

Before Tomoyo could open her mouth to speak, the woman's hands shot out and in one liquid movement grabbed her throat and slammed her back into the bed. Tomoyo let out a strangled gasp as Nivaline tightened her grip on her neck. Even though she was choking the breath out of her, Tomoyo couldn't help but admire the older woman's speed. She hadn't even seen Nivaline move.

"How do you know about Angels?" Nivaline growled dangerously, her once soft and gentle hazel eyes turning into cold, hard chips of brown rock.

Tomoyo winced in pain as Nivaline wrenched her up into a sitting position and glared into her eyes.

"Who sent you?" she snarled, "It was Lara wasn't it?"

Tomoyo finally managed to grab the other woman's grip and tried to wrench her hand away but Nivaline easily shook her hands off. Instead she released her iron-grip slightly allowing Tomoyo to suck in grateful gulps of air.

"I... I... I'm... an An... Angel a... a... as... well," Tomoyo managed to explain hoarsely between breaths.

Nivaline's eyes widened.

"Elder!" a man yelled in Mongolian as he charged into the room.

"Yes?" Nivaline asked briskly back in the same language as she swivelled around to look at the dishevelled man.

"There are intruders in the valley!"

Nivaline shot one last look at Tomoyo before turning back to the man.

"Guard her," she commanded as she stood up, "I'll see to this."

With that Nivaline rose gracefully and left the room leaving Tomoyo with one wary Mongolian guard.

"Are you sure about this?" Sakura asked her voice echoing around the deep walls of the rocky ravine they had descended down into.

"Hush," Meiling growled at her, her own voice barely above a whisper, "They might hear us."

Sakura sighed.

"Who's they?" she wanted to know.

Meiling ignored her and continued picking her way through the boulders and broken shale that littered the ravine floor, her senses on high alert. Although Sakura seemed to be disinterested and bored, her own senses were sweeping the area ready to pick up the slightest trail of disturbance amongst the rocky round.  
"Meiling," Sakura hissed suddenly.

"Shut up," Meiling snapped back without even bothering to turn around.

Suddenly the American Angel grabbed her friend's arm, Meiling whirled around and glared at her shaking off her hand as she opened her mouth to deliver a stinging remark.

"Can't you hear it?" Sakura whispered.

Meiling stared at her strangely.

"Hear what?" she asked looking around wearily.

Without any warning, the sound of horses neighing and hard hooves striking rock echoed through the whole ravine as both Angels tensed.

"That's what," Sakura muttered wryly to her friend as a platoon of mounted horsemen burst from a hidden opening in the rocky walls.

The horsemen tugged hard on the horses' reins wheeling them around until they faced the two girls. For one eternal second, the two sides looked at each other: waiting, watching, wary. The horses pawed the rocky ground restlessly as their riders studied their two seemingly helpless opponents, spears clutched tightly in their hands. The Angels in turn studied them as their eyes flicked from side to side studying their battlefield their minds hard at work formulating plans.

"Would it be to late to say we come in peace?" Meiling wondered aloud suddenly sending the men a devilish grin.

Her voice was instantly drowned out by the thundering noise of charging horses and excited yells of their riders as the horsemen leapt at them.

The two Angels immediately leapt into action and the battle began.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Nivaline smiled receiving the first word of the intruders.

"Our warriors have attacked," the messenger reported bowing respectfully before her.

"Good," Nivaline dismissed him with a single flick of her finger, "Make sure they are brought in for questioning."

The blonde-haired woman settled back and waited, confident that the intruders would be defeated.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura ducked the thin, razor-sharp blade of the spear as it shot past overhead. Jumping up she had to immediately spring to the side as a snorting horse charged straight past her, its rider trying to impale her in the chest with his spear.

Across the narrow rocky path, Meiling leapt backwards barely dodging her attacker's wild thrust with his spear. Before the man could yank his weapon back, Meiling grabbed the wooden staff and slammed the round, hard butt straight into the man's chest sending him sprawling off his horse as Meiling laughed snatching the spear from his hands.

"Now this is a more level playing-field," she crowed as another horsemen charged straight for her.

Meiling swung the spear around and dug the metal tip into the ground. Using the whole weapon as a lever, she leapt into the air gripping the spear tightly in both hands. With a fierce yell, she kicked out both her legs slamming into the man's chest, his momentum and the force of her kick sending him flying backwards. Meiling winced as he smashed into the rocky wall with considerable force.  
"Ouch," she muttered sympathetically.

Sprinting over to the fallen horseman, she grabbed his spear and whirled around.

"SAKURA!"

"WHAT?" her teammate yelled as she nimbly dodged a spear thrust.

"CATCH!" Meiling hurled the spear across the narrow ravine as Sakura whirled around and caught it deftly.

"Come on boys," Sakura smirked, "It's playtime!"

She twirled the staff around expertly in her hands as one horse leapt straight for her. Sakura whirled around and ran, the horse hot in pursuit. Seeing the craggy wall of the ravine she smirked as she leapt forwards and whirled around in midair. Her left foot hit the rock as she pushed with all her might propelling herself forwards straight back at the horse. Sakura grinned sadistically as the man's eyes widened.

"CRACK!" the hard wood of the spear handle smashed into his face as Sakura sailed straight over the horse's head and swung the spear around.

The man was sent sprawling over the horse's back as Sakura landed neatly straight on top of the horse's back. The American Angel's eyes widened as she realised what she was sitting on.

"Oh..." she began as the horse suddenly let out a loud whinny and began bucking and pawing the air with its hard hooves.

Sakura had two problems:

One, the horse was beginning to panic with this unfamiliar rider on its back and was now thrashing around the ravine in a frantic state.

Two, she was sitting on the horse... backwards.

"AHHHHH!!" she yelled as her hands scrambled helplessly along the horse's broad back trying to find a purchase to hold on to as the horse continued to charge recklessly through the fray.

Meiling knocked another horseman from his perch with a powerful whack to the chest and whirled around gasping in horror and amazement as Sakura continued to cling on for dear life as horse rose onto its two hind legs and jab the air with its two forelegs.

"SAKURA! GET DOWN!" Meiling roared.

"I WOULD LOVE TO!" her friend snapped back as she fought to stay on.

Meiling almost earned a gaping wound in her shoulder for her few seconds of inattention. Expertly deflecting the thrust with her spear handle, she let the horse charge past her whacking its hind legs with a sound blow as it raced past and smiled in satisfaction as the horse panicked and reared into the air dumping the horseman unceremoniously onto his back.

"Awww... poor baby make a boo-boo?" Meiling smirked as she landed a painful blow to his head and smiled as he slumped to the ground unconscious.

"MEILING!!" Sakura yelled desperately as her horse buckled widely and began racing away from the fight.

As Meiling watched on in horror, the horse charged straight back into hidden crevice that the horsemen had originally sprung from. Sakura held on doggedly as the horse sprinted through some sort of small cave. Rocks scraped her bare legs leaving behind long raw scratches as the horse continued on down the cramp cave, her woollen jumper was now in tatters thanks to the many protruding rocks and roots sticking out from the cave walls.

"Oh great," Sakura still managed to gripe as she clung onto the horse's back, "I just got this jumper."

Suddenly the cave ended abruptly and Sakura was thrust straight into the bright sunlight. Her eyes, accustomed to the darkness of the cave were immediately blinded. Blinking furiously trying desperately to clear her vision, she realised with horror that her grip on the horse's saddle was slipping.

"NO!" she yelled scrambling for purchase.

The horse gave on last wild buck and Sakura was sent flying.

"OW!" The wind was knocked straight out of her lungs as she hit the hard ground with a loud thud.

"That wasn't fun," Sakura managed to gasp as she staggered to her feet swaying unsteadily.

For a few seconds her vision blurred and the world around her spun but after a few seconds of standing there blinking dazedly she managed to regain her balance and perception.

"Where am..." Sakura trailed off as her emerald eyes widened in shock.

Standing before her was a temple. Her jaws practically dropped to the ground as her eyes ran over the massive building studying the intricate stone and wooden carvings that decorated the walls of the building and the roof. A stone dragon glared down at her from its perch on top of a small pillar as its twin sitting on the other side of a stone path reared up into the air, a snarl of menace captured on its stone façade.

"This wasn't in the Lonely Planet guide," Sakura quipped as she studied the stone pillars, which were painted a dark crimson, lining the stone path leading up to the immense wooden doors guarding the doorway.

Before Sakura could do anything else, the doorway burst open and an army of spear-wielder guards surrounded her in a menacing ring.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Meiling swung the spear around and cracked the last horseman across the back of the head. With a muffled groan, the man fell from his horse as Meiling sighed in relief.

"Finally," she muttered.

Looking around she quickly spotted the hidden cave that Sakura and the wild horse had disappeared through. With one last glance behind her to make sure that all the horsemen were indeed knocked out cold she took a deep breath and began sprinting through the cave.

Where it led to, Meiling had no idea.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"No wonder this isn't a tourist destination," Sakura noted, "You really need to work on the whole warm welcoming thing."

The ring tightened as each guard held his spear out in from of him, the sharp metal blades pointing straight towards the intruder.

"Now, now no need to get angry," Sakura took a cautious step towards one guard, "All I want is a snapshot of the scenery."

Gently she touched the tip of the spear as the guard stiffened.

"Ooooo... Can I get this in a souvenir shop?" Sakura gushed suddenly.

In one swift movement, she yanked the spear out of the guard's startled grip. Before anybody could react, she whipped the weapon around a knee height causing three guards to topple over. With amazing agility, she sprang out of the ring that surrounded her by leaping over the fallen three and landed nimbly on her feet, her spear clutched skilfully in her head its tip pointing outwards.

"Catch me if you can," Sakura smirked.

One a fierce warcry the guards whirled around and charged at her, their spears ready to impale her. Shifting into a stance, Sakura smiled in anticipation. One guard rushed at her holding the spear high above his head, with a loud cry he brought it down. Sakura twirled the spear in her hands until she gripped it horizontally. Deflecting the blow, Sakura kicked at the man's exposed stomach causing him to keel over in pain. Bringing the spear around she cracked the man across the skull and smirked as he toppled over like a sack of cement.

"TING!" Relying on her instincts she whipped her spear to her left just in time for the thin blade of one guard's spear to deflect off hers.

Seeing something move in the corner of her eye, Sakura whirled around and took a neat side-step to her right smiling in glee as one guard charged straight past her carried by his own momentum. He stumbled awkwardly as Sakura took him down with a vicious roundhouse punch to his stomach. He hit the ground moaning in pain as Sakura turned back to the rest of the guards.

They came thick and fast stabbing and slashing the air with their spears. Sakura's own spear was like a brown and silver blur, deflecting attacks and dealing out damage of her own. One guard fell to the ground as Sakura slashed his thigh with her spear drawing a deep narrow cut along his flesh. Another went down as the hard butt of her spear slammed into his face breaking his nose.

Sakura grimaced in pain as one guard landed a lucky hit drawing a thin line of blood across her arm shredding her already badly damaged jumper. Glaring at him she nailed him with a vicious whack across his face.

"Great, now I really have to get a new one," she sighed as she continued to deflect blows.

She let out a yelp of pain as another blade hit her body. Biting her lips and trying to ignore the pain as best as she could she fought on as more and more hits landed.

She was tiring, she realised with a sinking feeling in her stomach and soon one of them would land a hit that would really do some damage.

Smiling grimly Sakura fought on

_._

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

In a lightning fast move, Tomoyo leapt across the room tackling her guard to the ground slamming his head into the floor in the process. Crouching down, she quickly checked the man's pulse.

He was alive just knocked out cold.

With a sigh of relief, she stood up and brushed off her clothes before slowly opening the room door and stealthily sneaking out into the corridor.

As soon as she was outside her ear picked up the sounds of fighting. She could detect the distinct sound of wood hitting wood and the yells of victory and pain that filtered in through the windows.

She stood still.

"Meiling, Sakura!" she gasped realising who must be fighting.

With that Tomoyo followed the noise sprinting down the hallway, determined to help her friends.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Meiling let out a long sigh of relief as she reached the end of the tunnel. Glancing down at the numerous scratches she had received from protruding rocks and roots she grimaced but her attention was immediately snatched by the fight that was occurring straight in front of her.

"SAKURA!" Meiling yelled.

Without waiting for a reply, Meiling leapt into the fray taking advantage of the guard's surprise. She attacked viciously dealing out painful blows left, right and centre as she charged at their unprotected backs.

Trapped in between two Angels the rest of the guards quickly fell as Sakura let out a small sigh of relief.

"You okay?" Meiling asked picking her way through the fallen guards.

"I'm fine," Sakura gasped.

She turned around and stared at the temple.

"Now all we have to do is get inside and get Tomo..."

Suddenly the door swung open as Meiling and Sakura hefted their weapons, their senses and reflexes on high alert.

"Tomoyo?" Meiling gasped in surprise seeing who shot out from the temple.

"Meiling!" Tomoyo cried happily, "Sakura! Thank god, you're here!"

The Japanese Angel shot across the courtyard and as soon as she reached her startled friends she wrapped them in a warm hug.

"Tomoyo, what is this place?" Sakura asked as her friend let go of her and stepped back.

"According to this woman I met this is the Temple of Shaolin," Tomoyo told them, "I've lost the book and I don't know where it is."

"Don't worry," Meiling said grimly, "We'll get it back."

"I don't think so," a voice called from the doorway.

All the Angels whirled around to face the tall woman standing in the doorway. Meiling and Sakura studied the blonde-haired woman as they slowly shifted into a stance.

"Nivaline," Tomoyo muttered.

"I'm guessing these are your friends?" Nivaline said with an easy grin.

"We want the book," Sakura called.

Nivaline's hazel eyes narrowed as she studied the girl.

"It is not yours to have. You better leave now if you want to be unharmed," Nivaline warned.

"Oh yeah and like you're going to stop us," Meiling growled back, "You and what army?"

Nivaline smiled at her as at least thirty guards, dressed in the same fashion as the man Meiling had fought the night before in the archaeological dig compound, trickled out from the doorway and took up defensive stances each of them wary, alert and ready to fight.

"This army," Nivaline smirked.

She gestured with her hands and the guards charged at them.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"You just had to open your big mouth didn't you?" Sakura demanded.

Meiling shrugged.

"Sue me."

Tomoyo sighed in exasperation.

"Can you please argue some other time?" she demanded, "When we are not surrounded and about to get thrashed?"

"We're not going to get thrashed," Meiling said confidently hefting her spear.

A fierce warcry erupted from her throat causing both Tomoyo and Sakura to jump in the air and with that Meiling pounced at the guards.

"Always the crazy one," Sakura sighed as she leapt into the fray after her friend.

It was impossible trying to fight this many people, Sakura let out a gasp of pain as one fighter landed a solid kick to her ribs. Tomoyo was sent toppling as a vicious kick landed on her left knee. Meiling was holding her own but barely as she tried to fight off four fighters at once.

"OW!" Sakura was sent flying by a spinning kick to her chest, her spear flying out of her hands and landing in the dirt metres away.

Meiling crashed into the ground beside her as Tomoyo desperately sought to fight the rest off trying to buy time for her friends to recover.

A swift kick in the shoulder followed by a painful punch to her stomach ended her plans.

"NO!" Sakura yelled as she saw one fighter pull out a knife from the folds of his clothing.

Before her horrified eyes, the fighter grip the knife expertly in his hands and hurled it straight at Tomoyo the knife flying through the air like chain lightning.

"NO!!" Sakura screamed again her voice still full of fear but there was something else now.

Power.

From her vantage point of the temple doorway, Nivaline's eyes widened as Sakura's voice roared through the courtyard, bouncing of the massive canyon walls that protected the temple echoing through the cave until it seemed the whole area was full of wrathful voices.

Lying on the ground beside Sakura, Meiling blinked in confusion as Sakura stood up her whole body moving smoothly as though she hadn't been injured at all.

"STOP!" she commanded waving her hands in front of her.

Her emerald eyes flashed a brilliant gold and to Tomoyo's shock a sparkling golden dome of energy burst into existence around her. The knife that had been thrown at her slammed into the barrier and exploded into twisted smoking shrapnel.

"Wha... what?!" Tomoyo gasped afraid to touch the barrier surrounding her.

The fighters, to their credit, recovered from their shock and several of them leapt at Sakura. Sakura laughed gleefully her voice filled with mirth and scorn.

"I don't think so," she snarled her emerald eyes turning into a brilliant gold, "FLY!"

Light flashed from her eyes as the fighters that had leapt at her was sent flying backwards through the air as though an invisible force had shoved them aside.

Nivaline gasped in surprise and shock.

"No, it can't be!"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Dimly in her mind, Sakura knew the key was at work again. The key she had stolen from Ryan Trong's mansion, the key that was hanging around her neck right now. The key that had saved her from her fatal bullet wounds just several days before.

With a feral laugh, Sakura's hand flew to her neck and gripped the now glowing key tightly. With a powerful tug the gold clasp holding the chain together loosened and she held the key and chain aloft.

Gold light bathed the area as Sakura snarled at the remaining fighters.

"Fly, my pretties fly," she yelled an evil smirk dancing across her lips.

Each fighter find himself being picked up by an invisible force as Sakura laughed in glee. She left them there suspended in the air helpless in the face of her awesome power.

"Fly," she whispered with a flick of her hand.

Gold light burst from the Angel as Sakura let out a long laugh that was filled with malice and joy. Suddenly each fighter was flung backwards with immense force into the canyon walls the same strange force that threw them backwards pinned them to the wall crushing their bodies against the hard surface of the rock.

"Stop!" Nivaline yelled beginning to move towards her.

Sakura turned and stared at her with her now golden eyes. A small smile of scorn appeared on her lips as Sakura delicately arched an eyebrow.

"You?" she laughed, "Even your 'army' couldn't defeat me. You honestly think you have the power to stop me?"

Nivaline gritted her teeth.

"Let them go," she barked her eyes becoming chips of brown ice.

Sakura laughed.

"If you say so," Sakura casually gestured with her hands and the fighters was free of her power.

They fell to the ground each landing heavily and awkwardly as Sakura continued to regard Nivaline.

"Let the girl go," Nivaline growled.

Sakura laughed.

"I think this vessel serves me well," Sakura replied gesturing towards her own body, "The body of Nadeshiko's daughter is very, very suitable."

"Nadeshiko?!" Nivaline's eyes widened, "But how?"

"Let's just say little daughter follows in her mother's footsteps," Sakura smirked.

Nivaline took a dangerous step towards Sakura.

"Let. Her. Go," she growled each word filled with a deadly threat.

Sakura laughed.

"I don't think so Elder dear," Sakura hissed back at her.

"She has nothing to do with you, Fei Lao Shi," Nivaline demanded.

"I can't," Sakura snarled back, "She is the Flower."

Nivaline's eyes widened in shock as she let out a small gasp.

"They shall possess the three: One the sun and the key," she whispered almost to herself.

"Another the earth and the sword, the third the moon and the mirror," Tomoyo finished her voice barely above a whisper.

"Oh goody," Sakura laughed, "You've heard of it as well."

Meiling's eyes warily flickered in between Sakura and Tomoyo's face as her mind worked furiously to figure out what was going on.

"They..." Sakura paused, "We. We are after the earth: the Book of the Hong Bao Shi Hu Die. Give it to us."

Nivaline sighed deep in thought.

"I can't give it to you just like that," Nivaline took a deep breath, "The other Elders will not agree. However I propose this. If you girls pass the same test our acolytes pass to get warrior status I will give you the book."

Sakura laughed.

"Deal."

With that her eyes flashed once more before the gold light vanished and the key stopped glowing. Sakura looked around blinking in confusion, her eyes back to their normal brilliant emerald.

"What ha..." she began before giving a small sigh and fainting.

Nivaline stared intently at her.

"Come," she gestured towards Tomoyo and Meiling, "The tests begin."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Nivaline sat serenely upon a mahogany stool as Tomoyo and Meiling studied the room they were in. It too big to call it just a mere room, it was more like a hall. The walls and ceiling was decorated with skilfully done paintings of snarling tigers, screeching eagles and all manner of creatures both real and mythical all of them fixed in fierce poses. Six long round red pillars helped held the roof up and in the centre of the hall was a large square pit, which was filled with hard solid ground. The earthy texture of the ground contrasted against the smooth, gleaming surface of the floorboards that covered the rest of the floor.

"This is the Warrior's Hall," Nivaline explained calmly, "This is where acolytes come to be tested to determine if they are good enough to be warriors of our temple. A rite of passage some may say. This rite of passage consists of three tests, each one testing a specific skill: weapons, horse and balance. Normally an acolyte will have to pass all three on his own but because of your unique situation, each of you will complete a separate part of the overall test."

"But what about Sakura?" Meiling asked shooting a look at her friend, which was lay out on a woven mat on the ground behind them.

"When the time comes for her to be tested I will awaken her," Nivaline gestured towards the pit, "Who will be the first to go?"

Tomoyo and Meiling stared at each other.

"I'm going," Meiling said calmly.

"Why?" Tomoyo asked confused by Meiling's confidence

"The first part is weapons and out of the three of us I'm the best with them," Meiling explain.

Tomoyo nodded understandingly as Meiling strolled calmly up to the pit.

"Very well," Nivaline gestured with her hands and a door to her left banged open.

A man dressed in the same fashion as the fighters that Sakura had defeated with ease earlier came out holding two spears in his hands.

He reached the pit and stood legs apart in a pose that Meiling knew was perfect for one-on-one combat. He threw one of his spears at Meiling as the Asian Angel deftly caught it and moved into a stance of her own.

"The point of this test is to test your skill with spear-fighting," Nivaline explained, "First one to draw blood wins and you are bound within the confines of the pit. Very well, begin."

With no warning at all the man leapt for her, Meiling moved quickly to block his spear thrust with her own spear. The man leapt back now wary of Meiling's skill, both fighters circled one another their senses alert, reflexes ready to act.

With a small cry, Meiling darted forward trying to catch the man unaware but he was too fast skilfully deflecting her blow. Meiling jumped back as his spear sliced through the air the metal blade almost touching her body.

"You're good," Meiling panted.

The man didn't answer.

Meiling wiped the sweat from her face with the back of her hand and in that moment of distraction the man surged forwards the spear coming down in an overhead swing. Meiling leapt backwards trying to avoid the spear and was rewarded with a painful whack across the ribs. She sighed in relief as she fought for breath; only the wood had hit her the blade of the spear had missed.

"Thank god for small favours," she muttered as she grabbed the staff of the man's spear before he could yank it away and whipped her spear around at her head height at the same time.

The man ducked and Meiling's foot snaked out landing a before kick to the ribs. She let go of his spear and fell back until she stood at the edge of the pit her spear held ready to attack.

Hurriedly she brought her spear up to protect her hand as the man sprung forwards the wood of his spear clacking loudly with the wood of hers. He landed nimbly and whirled around bringing his spear around with him as Meiling thrust her spear down quickly blocking the second attack. She tried a thrust of her own but the man deflected the attack.

It went like that for a few minutes both of them sparring, attacking and defending with neither breaking the deadlock. Suddenly Meiling's and the man's spears smashed together as the two pushed at each other with all their strength trying to overpower the other.

It was another stalemate as both of them neither of them could defeat the other. Meiling sent a sudden smirk at the man and grinned.

"I win," she whispered.

The man's eyes widened as Meiling broke away from the tangle and darted around him as he suddenly found himself pushing nothing and almost toppled over as Meiling's spear flashed through the air and the tip of the blade just nicked his arm dropping a single bead of blood.

Meiling grinned as the man recovered his balance and whirled around. Meiling tensed expecting some kind of retaliation but the man merely bowed at her and left the pit.

"The challenge wins," Nivaline murmured, "Now for the second test."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"I hate this," Tomoyo muttered as she sat on top of a black horse who was nervously pawing the ground.

"The second test is aimed at testing your horsemanship. The horse you are sitting on has been fed a type of plant that induced seizure like symptoms. It will last only for a minute but your objective is to stay on as the horse bucks around," Nivaline allowed a small smile to appear on her face, "After the minutes if you're still on than you have passed the second phase of the test. Your minute starts... now."

Tomoyo paled as the horse began neighing shrilly and her movements became more violent as she stomped the ground and began shaking her head. Tomoyo gripped the rein tightly as the horse suddenly reared slashing the air with her hard hooves.

"Ahhhhhh!!" Tomoyo cried as the convulsions really began.

The horse charged wildly towards the edge of the pit before suddenly wheeling around and almost sending Tomoyo flying through the air.

"Good horsey," Tomoyo cooed nervously, "Please stay still for me. Please."

The horse bucked wildly its whole body shaking and moving as her cries became shriller and more panicked.

So were Tomoyo's cries.

"Hang in there!" Meiling cried encouragingly.

"WAAAHHHH!!" Tomoyo yelled as horse reared again.

The rein slipped out of her hands as Tomoyo immediately slid down horse's back but just at the last moment she managed to grab the edge of the saddle and hung on for dear life as the horse began prancing around the pit.

"AHHHH!!" Tomoyo was bumped against the horse's back as she desperately tried to get a better grip.

Mentally inside her head she had been counting the seconds and now sensing the end of this ordeal she began counting down.

_Twenty..._

_Nineteen..._

All thought of numbers was thrown out of her head as the horse bucked wildly throwing Tomoyo into the air and making her land with a painful thud against the horse's back.

Grimly she clung on.

_Ten..._

_Nine..._

_Eight..._

Her grip on the saddle slipped again and she find herself slipping down the horse's side. Desperately her hand shot out and grabbed the stirrups, the horse panicked feeling something tug against her side and almost toppled over crushing Tomoyo but she managed to correct her balance and continued to thrash around. Tomoyo had to twist out of the way to avoid getting crushed by hard hooves.

Suddenly with no warning at all the horse stopped bucking and stood completely still as Tomoyo let out a long sigh of relief and let out of the stirrups falling the last few centimetres to the ground.

"You have completed the second test," Nivaline murmured, "Time for the third."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Meiling crushed the small green leaf Nivaline had given her and held the green mush near her friend's nose. Sakura's eyelids flickered as she sucked in a long breath and began coughing wildly.

"Wha... what?!" Sakura sat up suddenly blinking in confusion, "Where."

"Short version?" Meiling asked, "You went psycho on us and did some weird psychic thing on the fighters. You fainted and Nivaline agreed to give us the book if we pass three tests. We already pass three and now it's your turn."

Sakura nodded still slightly dazed and stood up shakily.

"Move towards the pit," Nivaline commanded softly.

Sakura's body steadied itself as she took a deep breath and walked slowly towards the pit in the centre of the ground. Her emerald eyes studied her new battleground and noticed the small bamboo poles that stuck out from the sandy earth of the pit. They were only thirty centimetres on some tall as Sakura frowned in confusion.

"The last test is balance," Nivaline explained, "You will stand on these poles and fight an opponent who will be doing the same. The first person to fall loses. Begin."

Sakura stepped cautiously on one pole and glanced at the rest. They were set out in nine rows with nine poles in each, eight-one in all. Her body used to hard balancing tricks after many years of gymnastics easily steadied itself as Sakura waited.

The door to Nivaline's left where Meiling's opponent had come out from opened again and this time a different man still dressed in the same ninja-like style as the other appeared. He bowed respectfully to Nivaline before leaping onto one of the poles.

Sakura and the man eyed each other carefully as their foot moved to find better purchase on the poles.

"Hiya!" Sakura leapt forwards her right foot landing on another poles as she sped across at the man.

She stopped neatly on the poles just in front of him and launched a battery of lightning fast punches at him. The man expertly blocked each one before retaliating with a series of his own. Sakura leapt back landing expertly on top of another poles as the man leapt forwards.

Sakura winced as the man landed a painful punch to her ribs but she recovered quickly grabbing his arm and hurling him over her shoulders. He sailed through the air and twisted his body around before landing expertly on another pole.

"Oh damn," Sakura sighed as she leapt across the poles engaging the man in another skirmish.

Blows were blocked and landed as both fighters attacked with vicious power. Sakura kicked the man's stomach and followed up on her attack with another kick to his thigh. He groaned in pain and darted to another pole to avoid her attacks as Sakura lunged after him.

He sent her sailing with a flying kick that landed directly on her chest. Sakura twisted through the air and landed on another pole her arms held out beside her to help her gain her balance back.

"This is getting nowhere," she snarled.

The man leapt for her again leaping from pole to pole as Sakura tensed. He landed neatly in front of her and with a move to fast to see, he landed a painful uppercut to her chin. Her head snapped back as she fell backwards her arms scrambling widely trying to find something to grab onto.

The man laughed as he sprung forwards eager for the kill. Sakura dimly saw what he was doing and reached behind her smiling as her hands gripped the top of another pole. With a triumphant yell she kicked her legs up performing a perfect handstand on top of the pole. She launched herself into the air with her hands and performed a perfect flip in mid-air landing on her feet as she hit the pole again.

The man's eyes widened as she grabbed his fist with her left blocking his punch and nailed him in the chest with her right.

"Game over," Sakura smirked as she leapt forwards.

Meiling and Tomoyo cheered widely as she launched a flying kick at him, both of her feet hitting his chest. The man was sent flying as Sakura landed on top of a pole with ease. Her opponent hit the sandy ground heavily sending up a puff of dust as Sakura jumped down.

"I win," she murmured as she weaved in out of the pole backward toward her friend.

"Very well," Nivaline stood up and clapped her hands.

Another man walked out from the door holding a rectangular object wrapped in dark velvet in his hands. Nivaline took the object from him and unwrapped the velvet revealing the gem and precious metal-studded cover of the second book.

The book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die.

"This is yours," Nivaline murmured walking towards them.

She walked around the pit and once she reached the three Angels she bowed deeply before handing the book to Meiling who took it with a small bow of her own.

"And now," Nivaline turned to Sakura, "I've got something to tell you."

"What about?" Sakura asked surprised.

"It's about your mother."

Sakura gasped and stared at Nivaline with shocked eyes as Nivaline stared back at her calmly but beneath her serene façade Sakura knew instinctively she was fighting back tears of both sadness and fury.

"I will tell you how she really died."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Dun, dun, dun! Nadeshiko's death is about to be revealed but how will Sakura handle it? And what is the whole prophecy thing anyway? You'll just have to read on and find out!

Next chapter:

Sakura is stunned at Nivaline's revelations about her mother's death but she is about have a nasty surprise waiting for her back home in America. The Angels' friendships begin to fall apart as Meiling and Tomoyo accuses Sakura of not trusting them leaving Sakura emotionally vulnerable. Prepare yourself for more shocks, twists and revelations in... _Truths break hearts_.

A/Notes: Nivaline was a character created by a winner of the Syaoran's Angels competition so whoever invented her (sorry, I can't remember) please, please review and comment on her!

And just out of curiosity, I want to know what has been your favourite chapter so far. Please include your favourite chapter name in your review and give a short reason.  
Thanks!

And a big thank you for all my wonderful readers! PLEASE KEEP REVIEWING!


	18. Truths break hearts

I WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER UPDATE AGAIN UNTIL I HAVE AT LEAST 365 REVIEWS! SO GET CRACKING AND REVIEW!

Disclaimer: Still don't owe anything

Syaoran's Angel

**Chapter 17: Truths break hearts**

Sakura relaxed back into her seat and thought back to the shocking revelation Nivaline had revealed to her.

_'How your mother really died.'_

The phrase still rang through her mind as Sakura ignored the flight attendant that was talking to her and let her mind ran through what Nivaline had told her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Flashback_

"And now," Nivaline turned to Sakura, "I've got something to tell you."

"What about?" Sakura asked surprised.

"It's about your mother."

Sakura gasped and stared at Nivaline with shocked eyes as Nivaline stared back at her calmly but beneath her serene façade Sakura knew instinctively she was fighting back tears of both sadness and fury.

"I will tell you how she really died."

"Wha... what?!" Sakura managed to stammer in her surprise.

"She is..." Tomoyo paused, "Was an Angel."

Meiling and Sakura stared at Nivaline incredulously.

"I used to work with your mother, Nadeshiko," Nivaline smiled wistfully a far away look coming into her eyes.

"Wait," Sakura paused eyeing Nivaline suspiciously, "I... we've already met Kiyone and she never mentioned you at all. She mentioned my mother and someone else... Lauren... Laura... Lara! Yeah, she definitely mentioned someone named Lara."

Sakura paused.

"Lara was killed along with my mother."

To her surprise, Nivaline laughed her voice filled with hatred and bitterness.

"Lara? Die? I doubt it very much."

The Angels gaped at her as Nivaline smiled grimly.

"Perhaps I should start at the beginning."

_End of Flashback_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Sakura?" her friend's worried voice asked.

Sakura started realising where she was. Jolted out of her train of her thoughts, she turned toward her friend a small frown on her face.

"Yeah?" she replied distractedly.

"We're about to touch down," Tomoyo told her.

Sakura nodded and clipped on her seatbelt leaning back into her chair as over the PA speaker, their pilot began cheerfully telling them they were now landing in L.A. International Airport.

Sakura took a deep breath and tried to calm her tumultuous thoughts as the plane touched down onto familiar soil.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The hallways of Spinnel Corporation were silent, which was amazing since for the last two weeks the whole place had been crawling with cops, the FBI and even the CIA each wanting to investigate the 'terrorist' attack.

The boss hadn't been happy to be it mildly and a lot of the employees had suffered his wrath. There had been many a flurry of sudden firings and demotions; those that had been lucky to escape his wrath now breathed a sigh of relief, as things seemed to calm down.

"DAMN IT!" a shrill woman's voice rang through the hallways.

Lilia stalked around her office rubbing her temple and trying to ignore the throbbing pain still raging inside her nose.

Damn Angel! she growled remembering Sakura Kinomoto's attack on her.

It was all her fault Lilia raged. That damned Kinomoto was the one who attacked her, got information on her father's whereabouts, blew up the Spinnel office car park and now she had the second book!  
Lilia quivered as she considered informing her boss about this new... development. She sighed and ran her hands through her low hair.

"Damn her," she seethed.

Thanks to Kinomoto's little bomb stunt their office had been under investigation and the boss had to bribe many officials for them to turn a blind eye to some of the company's more... shady dealings.

Lilia sighed and thanked god that the boss couldn't fire her. There was no other person to replace her, no other person to do her job ever since Hayden...

Lilia smiled wickedly and strolled back to her desk.

"Ryan?" she said smoothly picking up her phone.

"Yes, Ms. Faren?" her assistant replied.

"Please check in on Rika and give her a heads up. The Angels are back in L.A."

"Yes, Ms. Faren."

"Good," Lilia hung up and paused for a few brief seconds.

A wicked grin appeared on her face as a new idea began formulating inside her head. If this worked...

"Bye, bye Angels," Lilia said smugly as she began making the necessary arrangements.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura waved goodbye to her friends and strolled up the stairs to her apartment. She frowned as she wondered for a brief moment why they seemed so distant and cold. She sighed and smiled wryly.

It wasn't as if she had been wonderful company herself she reminded herself, she was still busy recovering from shock as another piece of her mother's death fell into place. As she trudged up the stairs she began remembering what Nivaline had said to her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Flashback_

"Lara?" Sakura asked confused, "But... Kiyone... tol... told me..."

"Kiyone was tricked just as I was," Nivaline smiled bitterly and added, "Just as Nadeshiko was."

_End of Flashback_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura opened the door to her apartment and sighed with relief as she saw the broken window that had been here before had been fixed. Meiling must have contacted Syaoran and he must have arranged to have it fixed.

Making a mental note to thank her friends and boss, Sakura walked to the spare bedroom and noticed that all her father's things were gone. Smiling somewhat sadly, she knew that Fujitaka must have been moved to a secure location after he landed in America along with Haddock. With another sad sigh, she wandered over to her phone and noticed the message light was flashing.

Frowning slightly and wondering who had called her, she clicked the button and waited impatiently as the tape began playing.

_'Sakura?'_

Sakura stiffened as she recognised her friend's Chelsea's voice. She sounded really upset and it sounded like she was trying to fight back tears.

_'Zachary is hurt. That terrorist attack on Spinnel Corporation...' _Chelsea trailed off, _'He's in a coma... can you please come to the hospital...'_

Chelsea then quickly told her the address before hanging up sobs beginning to choke her voice. Sakura stared in horror at the phone.

Oh god, what had she done? In her anger, she had blown up the building but now... now... her friend.

"What I have done?" Sakura murmured in horror as she grabbed the small table for support.

For a few long eternal seconds she stood there trying to absorb the news before she whirled around and ran out of the door as quick as she could.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"I can't believe it," Meiling sighed.

"What?" Tomoyo look at her curiously.

"Sakura... the key."

Tomoyo sighed.

"Freaky, isn't it?"

"Freaky?!" Meiling exploded, "She defeated all those fighters without even breaking a sweat! That's beyond freaky!"

Tomoyo and Meiling were silent for a while remembering the events of the past few days.

"I'm pretty sure she knew about the key beforehand," Tomoyo said slowly.

"What?" Meiling looked at her in surprise.  
"That night at Trong's mansion... Sakura said she used gas bombs to knock out the commandos," Tomoyo frowned, "I'm pretty sure she used the key instead. I always thought her excuse was a bit off."

Meiling was silent for a while staring broodingly out of the windshield as Tomoyo continued navigating through the busy Los Angeles's roads.

"Why didn't she tell us?" Meiling asked finally.

Tomoyo shrugged.

"Who knows? We'll ask her next time we see her."

And with that Tomoyo pulled up into her driveway.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura dashed down hallway of the hospital after being directed to Zachary's room by the nurse at reception. Coming to a screeching halt in front of his room door, Sakura took a deep breath and raised her hand to knock.

She hesitated.

This was going to be tough. How on earth was she going to be supportive and helpful when Sakura was in fact the person who had caused Zachary's injuries? How will Chelsea react when she find out?

And Diana...

Sakura gulped as she remembered she hadn't talked to her friend since the night of the reunion.

How am I going to explain this to her?!

Sakura took a deep soothing breath before knocking reluctantly on the door as she waited for an answer she fidgeted nervously praying that Zachary would recover to full health. If anything happened...  
"Come in," a tired voice called snapping Sakura out of her thoughts.

Sakura opened the door and stepped into room preparing herself for the worse.

"Sakura!" Chelsea said happily rising from her chair.

"I'm so sorry!" Sakura hugged her friend tightly, "I was out of town these few days... and... oh god, is he going to be alright?"

Chelsea took a step back and glanced at her husband's prone form before looking at Sakura tears welling in her eyes.

"We don't know," she said softly, "The doctors are afraid that when he wakes up he might have brain dam..."

Chelsea broke off and began crying, Sakura swept her up into a tight hug wishing that she hadn't been so blinded by her own anger. She never stopped to consider her actions and now... because of her...

"He's going to be fine," Sakura said softly to her friend trying to reassure her.

"You don't know that. Nobody knows."

Sakura pulled back and looked deep into her friend's eyes.

"You've got to have faith. He'll be fine."

Chelsea took a deep breath and pushed away from Sakura wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Have you seen Diana lately?" Chelsea asked changing the subject.  
Sakura frowned.

"No, not since the reunion. Why?"

Chelsea looked at her strangely.

"That's strange.." she trailed off shaking her head slowly.

"Why?" Sakura pressed.

"I haven't seen her since the reunion either," Chelsea frowned, "I wonder why?"

Sakura knew for certain why but she didn't want to dwell on it. Pasting a fake smile on her face, Sakura forced herself to lie.

"Oh, it's probably nothing."

Twenty minutes later armed with Diana's address, Sakura hit the streets again ready to go after her wayward friend.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling sighed as she trudged up the driveway.

"I want to move back into my own house again," she groaned.

Tomoyo smirked.

"Hey, can I help it if Rika attacked you? And anyway my house is much better..."

Meiling turned to look at her.

"And why's that?" she demanded scowling furiously.

Suddenly Tomoyo's front door swung open as the Angels tensed both of them anticipating some kind of ambush attack however they relaxed when they realised who it was.

"Lily!" Tomoyo smiled as the young girl ran across the garden towards them.

"Auntie 'Moyo! Auntie Meiling!" Lily yelled happily.

Tomoyo swept her up into a big hug as she smirked as Meiling.

"Because my house has a certain gorgeous-looking man," she grinned as Meiling blushed furiously.

"Hey Lily," Tomoyo turned back to the little girl in her arms, "Where's your dad?"

"Daddy is inside he should be coming out," Lily scrunched up her face before opening her mouth and screeching on top of her voice, "DADDY!!"

Tomoyo grimaced but smiled as Marcus appeared at the doorway.

"You're back," he said happily with a warm grin, "Sorry but I was on the phone with Syaoran. He's arranging a new identity for us."

"That's okay," Tomoyo grinned wickedly as Meiling who was smiling shyly at Marcus, "Hey Lily, look over there! Some many pretty flowers! Let's go and have a look!"

With that Tomoyo left but not before sending a sly grin at Meiling. Meiling blushed again and resisted the urge to pound her friend into the ground.

"Not very subtle is she?" Marcus asked walking up to her.

Meiling looked at him and blinked trying to remember who to talk.

"No, she isn't," Meiling finally managed to say.

"Well, then let's give her something to talk about," Marcus bent down and gave Meiling a sweet kiss on the lips.

All thoughts flew out of Meiling's hand as she deepened the kiss wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down further against her lips. Marcus's hands find themselves wrapped around her waist as he closed his eyes enjoying the sensations he was feeling and the sweet scent of this wonderful woman who was kissing him with such abandon.

Dimly Meiling was aware of the fact that Tomoyo was watching and that she was muttering something under her breath. Frowning slightly she wondered what her friend was saying.

"I wish I had my camera," Tomoyo sighed as she and Lily watched the kissing couple.

"Auntie Tomoyo?"

"Yeah?"

"Is Auntie Meiling and Daddy going to be get married?" Lily looked at her 'aunt' seriously.

Tomoyo smiled down at her.

"Maybe but most probably a very big yes."

Lily smiled happily and decided she very much liked the idea of a mommy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura reached the last step and sighed with relief.

"Stupid lift," she muttered under her breath cursing the broken lift that had caused her to walk up ten levels worth of stairs.

Quickly recovering from the short hike, she walked down the well-lit doorway looking for the right door.

"Fifty-one... fifty-two... fifty-three... fifty-four..." Glancing at the bronze numbers screwed onto each door she continued counting as she walked down the hallway, "Fifty-five... fifty-six... fifty-seven..."

Finally she stopped.

"Fifty-eight!"

Like before at the hospital Sakura was suddenly reluctant to talk to her friend but she needed to... she had to. Taking a deep breath she slowly and reluctantly knocked gently on the door.

"Steven, I keep telling you I'll be back at work next week!" Diana's voice came through the door.

"Sorry Di, but it's not Steven," Sakura yelled back.

"Sakura?!"

From the other side of the door Sakura could hear the sound of someone scrambling across hard wooden floors until finally the door unlocked with a loud click swinging open to reveal Diana. Sakura smiled her nervously.

"Hi," she began slowly.

Diana remained silent staring at her friend coldly.

"How are you?" Sakura continued awkwardly.

"Still a bit sore from the accident."

"Uh..." Sakura trailed of looking for something to say, "Sorry?"  
Diana looked at her calmly.

"What do you have to apologise for?" she asked aloofly.

"Uh... for not telling you what I actually do for a living and drawing a psychotic assassin to you?" Sakura trailed off nervously as Diana stared at her hurt and sadness emanating from her blue-grey eyes.

"Why didn't you tell us? I thought we were your friends!" Diana suddenly exploded glaring at her, "For god's sake, Sakura. Don't trust us? Is that why?"

Sakura stood there stunned for a few seconds as her mind worked wildly to come up with some valid answers.

"I guess..." Sakura sighed, "I didn't tell you cause I can't."

Diana stared at her.

"Of course you can. You're obviously working for the police or the FBI or the CIA or something!" she paused, "Unless you're a secret agent or something than..."

Sakura had to work hard to hide a smile.

"No, I'm not working for the police or the FBI or the CIA," she paused, "If I did I would assure Dan would have been dead long ago."

Diana giggled, encouraged by this Sakura forged on.

"I'm an Angel," she concluded.

Diana stared at her, her blue-grey eyes conveying her confusion.

"Angel as in a I-come-from-the-heavens-from-God angel?"

Sakura laughed.

"No, me and two of my friends we work for this guy Syaoran..." Sakura trailed off seeing Diana's suspicious look, "No! It's not what you think. Syaoran... well, we don't actually know who he is. He contacts us via a speaker box so we haven't even seen his face or met him in person before!"

Taking a deep breath Sakura continued on explaining.

"Anyway, he contacts us every so often and gives us missions to do. These missions usually involve helping the world in some way: taking down drug rings, spying on suspected criminals... that kind of thing," Sakura could see that Diana was shocked into silence, "That's why we're called Angels. We try to make the world a better and safer place. And that's why I couldn't tell you guys, most of what we do is very sensitive and dangerous. By the simple act of telling you, I can put all of your in danger!"

Diana was silent for a while as she tried to absorb everything her friend was telling her.

"And who was that Catwoman-wannabe that attacked you?" she asked genuinely curious.

Sakura laughed at Diana's comparison between Rika and Catwoman.

"She's an assassin," she said shortly.

Diana stared at her flabbergasted.

"Assassin as in people trying to kill you?"

Sakura nodded.

"Not just me, my friends as well," Sakura sighed, "We kinda raided this company and they didn't like it so Spinnel Co..."

Sakura trailed off realising what she was saying. Diana gaped at her.

"Spinnel?" Diana gasped, "As in Spinnel Corporation? As in where Zachary works? What do they have to do with your wor..."

Diana trailed off as Sakura smiled knowingly knowing that her friend was working in out inside her head.

"Spinnel Corporation is evil?" Diana finally said.

Sakura nodded mutely as Diana gasped

"Holy! Zachary will be so devastated!" her friend's eyes were filled with worry, "He really lo..."

She stopped as Sakura stared at her.

"What?" Diana asked worried.

"Didn't Chelsea tell you? I'm sure she called you sev..."

"I haven't been returning my calls or even checking my messages," Diana cut in.

Sakura sighed as she tried to work out the best way to tell her friend.

"Zachary... well he's in... a... well..."

"Sakura," Diana muttered impatiently, "Spit it out."

"In a coma."

Diana stared at her as Sakura smiled nervously.

"Coma?!" Diana asked softly, "Oh god! Chelsea! Hospital... I've got to..."

"Come on," Sakura tugged her arm, "I'll take you there."

Diana nodded before reaching behind her to grab her coat and they were off.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"You know Meiling," Tomoyo fought to keep a broad grin off her face, "There are little kids around and I'm pretty sure Marcus doesn't want his daughter to know about _all _the facts of life right now."

Tomoyo grinned as her comment succeeded in breaking the couple apart. Meiling and Marcus both had a dazed look on their face but her friend recovered quickly enough to shoot a death glare at her friend, which Tomoyo ignored.

"Hi," she smiled at Marcus who gave her a small wave back in return.

"Catching your breath?" Tomoyo asked batting her eyelashes innocently as Marcus and Meiling both blushed.

Another death glare was deftly ignored as Tomoyo continued on subtly sending a smirk in Meiling's direction.

"Shouldn't you guys go on a date or something?" she asked casually.

"Tomo..." Meiling began angrily her ruby eyes flashing.

"You know that actually is a very good idea," Marcus cut in thoughtfully.

Jackpot! Tomoyo thought smugly as she watched Meiling struggling to deal with this new turn of events.

Well aware of Tomoyo's meddling, Meiling inwardly seethed and made a mental note to make her pay for it later but right now she was having enough trouble trying to concentrate on what was actually coming out of Marcus's lip rather than just remembering how they felt on hers.

"What about Lily?" she managed to say at last.

"Nice try," Tomoyo snorted, "I'll look after her."

Subtly she nudged Lily and the little girl looked up startled blinking at her in confusion. She turned back to Meiling and her daddy and instantly realised what her Aunty Tomoyo wanted.

That's my girl Tomoyo thought smugly hiding a small grin as a sad puppy face look appeared on Lily's face.

"Pllleeeeeaaaasseeeeee? Aunty Meiling?" Lily asked expertly stretching out the 'please' into a five-syllable whine, "I'll be a very, very, very, very good girl if you say yes."

Meiling sighed and made another mental note that Lily could beat Sakura's sad puppy face hands down. It was very hard to refuse especially when she looked at her with those bright blue eyes and Meiling could see that tears were beginning to well up in the corners...

Why am I such a sucker for that look? Meiling wondered exasperatedly.

"Of course I'll go," Meiling sighed at last.

Tomoyo looked at her an eyebrow raised delicately.

"Meiling, are you accepting a date from me or Marcus?" she asked deadpanned and was rewarded with a brilliant blush.

Meiling turned towards Marcus and tried to ignore her heart, which was thumping so loud in her chest by now she was surprised that nobody else had noticed it.

"I would love to," she managed to say at last sending a shy grin Marcus.

Marcus smiled warmly back at her

"Great!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Di!" Chelsea rushed across the room to sweep her friend up into a warm hug as Sakura smiled stepping back into the hallway to allowing Diana and Chelsea to talk and comfort each other.

As she absently watched her friends, her mind began drifting again.

Drifting back to what she had discovered back into Mongolian mountains...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Flashback_

"What?"

"Huh?"

"How?'

Three startled phrased flew out of three different mouths as the Angels stared at the female Elder.

"Wait," Tomoyo frowned as something became clear to her, "Kiyone said she was an Angel and you're saying you're an Angel as well. Nadeshiko was an Angel and so is this... Lara. Four Angels? I thought there are only three at a time."

Sakura paused as something came to her.

"Kiyone said that she was a... fill-in," she said slowly, "She said another Angel was injured before she joined in..."

Sakura looked at Nivaline in shock.

"You were the Angel that was injured!"

Nivaline nodded gravely.

"Perhaps I should start at the beginning," Nivaline took a deep breath and began talking her voice filled with longing and wistfulness.

"In the beginning there were three of us: Nadeshiko, Lara Williams and me. We were the best. We put away criminals left, right and centre. We shattered drugs rings and destroyed crime syndicates all over the world," Nivaline's voice took on a bitter tone, "So perhaps it is ironic that the person who will finally destroy us was one of us."

Nivaline closed her eyes as she relived some kind of memory when she opened them her hazel-green eyes glistened with tears.

"Lara was always the most ruthless out of the two of us. She would hunt down criminals to the ground no matter the cost. She would do anything to ensure we won," Nivaline smiled bitterly, "At the beginning we ignored it but as time progressed she got worse and worse. It all came to head when we find out she actually tortured a spy for information. We got into a massive fight and Lara stormed off. For three months, she disappeared until out of the blue she reappeared again and she seemed changed... better... more... humane."

Nivaline looked at the three Angels standing before her and studied them closely her sharp eyes seemingly peering into their souls.

"If only Nadeshiko and I knew it was just an act."

Nivaline's story

"Don't you think it's a bit strange Lara's changed so much?" Nivaline asked as they sat in the back of the van surrounded by surveillance equipment of all descriptions.

Nadeshiko laughed as she studied the TV screens lining the van's inner wall.

"So what? Those three months must've really changed her," Nadeshiko smiled at Nivaline, "She isn't the same as before but it's a good thing."

Nivaline sighed.

"I guess."

"Anyway..." Nadeshiko trailed off and studied her friend critically.

"What?" Nivaline asked nervously.

"Why do you always wear green?" Nadeshiko asked curiously, "I mean it suits your eyes but really green, green and green? And every single day?"

"It's a tradition..." Nivaline began exasperated explaining it for about the millionth time since she met Nadeshiko and Lara.

_'Guys!' _Lara's voice came in loud and clear through one of the speakers lining the wall.

"Lara?" Nadeshiko asked speaking into a microphone, "What's wrong?"

_'I'm trapped!' _Lara hissed her voice becoming high-pitched with panic, _'The guards are approaching and I've got no way out!'_

"Damn!" Nadeshiko cursed.

Nivaline raised an eyebrow, her friend barely ever swore.

"I'll go," Nivaline volunteered jamming a miniature com-link into her ear at the same time.

"I don't know..." Nadeshiko murmured, "It's dangero..."

_'I don't usually ask for help but...' _Lara was really starting to panic now, _'I need it! They're coming! Please! Hurry!'_

Suddenly her voice was overcome with static as the two Angels stared at each other.

"Be careful," Nadeshiko murmured softly.

Nivaline nodded and yanked open the van door slipping into the shadows. Nadeshiko sighed and wondered how they got into such a mess. It had been a simple mission; they had received intelligence of a meeting of criminal gang leaders in a warehouse on the outskirts of town. Their mission had been to simply send someone in and spy in on the meeting recording it onto a tiny hidden camera but Lara had been exposed and she had been forced to flee with guards hot on tail.

"Please god," Nadeshiko prayed, "Watch over them. Let no harm come to them."

Nivaline slipped into the building knocking out the one guard that stood into her way. Opening the door in front of her slowly, she winced as it made a tiny squeak. For a few seconds she crouched in their shadows, her senses on high alert hoping and praying that nobody had heard her.

Nothing.

Nivaline sighed with relief.

"Lara?" she whispered into her com-link.

_'Niv?' _Lara asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, it's me. What happened? Where are you?" Nivaline whispered urgently.

_'They find me but I managed to fight my way out. I'm in the south-east corner of the warehouse.'_

"Alright I'm on my way," Nivaline whispered back as she slipped through the door she had just opened.

Swiftly and stealthily she stole through the warehouse, her mind so focused to help her friend that she didn't even notice that there was a suspicious lack of guards around.

Opening another door, she strolled into brightly lit room. In the centre of the room her back against a large window and surrounded by a ring of heavily armed guards stood her friend and fellow Angel, Lara, her blonde hair capturing the light making it look like an ethereal halo and making her look like an Angel the mysterious smile dancing across her lips only served to strengthen the image.

"Lara?" Nivaline asked looking at the guards nervously.

Lara laughed and gestured lazily with her hand

"Leave us, please," she commanded as the guards melted away into the shadows.

"Lara?"

Her friend continued to stare at her before suddenly laughing.

"Oh, in case you're wondering. Our com-links are no longer working," Lara smirked at her, "Electromagnetic field."

"What's going on?" Nivaline asked eyeing her.

"What's going on?" Lara repeated, "Good question. This is what is going on: you and Nadeshiko. You sicken me. Pacifists. Cowards. Always afraid. Always playing by the rules. Well guess what? The rules have changed."

"Lara..." Nivaline began.

"Nivaline," Lara cut her off, "You see in those three months I figured out something. I've been wasting my time hanging out with this Angel rubbish. My skills and abilities could be put to far more better use. And far more profitable ones as well."

"You..." Nivaline snarled, "You sold us out."

Lara laughed.

"Congratulations Ms. Goody-goody. You finally figure it out."

"All this time we thought you've changed but really you've just gotten worse," Nivaline whispered mentally kicking herself for falling into a trap.

Lara shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm a good actor."

Lara took a menacing step forwards her blue eyes dancing with a fanatic light as Nivaline glared at her.

"You won't get away with this," Nivaline growled, "When I tell Nadeshiko, we're going to kick your ar..."

"Well guess what?" Lara held up something, "You won't be able to tell her."

Nivaline stared in shock as Lara slowly pulled out the pin of the grenade she was holding all the while smiling at her sadistically.

"Here, catch," Lara hurled it at Nivaline's feet and whirled around and leapt through the window standing behind her as Nivaline stared at the grenade that rolled towards her feet in shock unable to move, unable to come up with a last minute plan.

"No..." she whispered, "Nadeshiko!"

The grenade exploded throwing Nivaline off her feet hurling her into a wall. The last thing Nivaline thought off before darkness dulled her senses was off her friend... Nadeshiko.

"BOOM!"

Nadeshiko gasped in horror as one whole side of the warehouse burst into flames.

"Nivaline! Lara!" she gasped leaping out of the van.

"Nadeshiko!" a familiar voice cried, "Hel... help!"

"Lara? What happened?" Nadeshiko yelled.

"Nivaline... I was... trapped by guards..." Lara managed to gasp out between shaky tear-laden breaths, "I tried to fight... she helped me... held them up... I ran away..."

"Oh god," Nadeshiko turned back to the inferno, "We've got to help her."

Lara nodded as Nadeshiko ran off towards the burning warehouse desperate to save her friend.

"Fool," Lara smirked as she followed her.

End of Nivaline's story

The three Angels stared at Nivaline in horror.

"Lara..." Sakura began faintly.

"Betrayed me and later your mother," Nivaline said gravely, "I ended up in a coma for a whole year and that's when Kiyone was called to fill in for me. When I woke up from my coma Nadeshiko was already died. Lara sent me a video of Nadeshiko being shot..."

Nivaline paused.

"By Lara's own gun," she hissed her voice filled with malice and hatred.

"Where is she? Where is Lara?" Sakura demanded.

Nivaline stared at her sadly.

"I don't know."

_End of Flashback_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura swallowed the lump growing in her throat and tried to shake the memory off. One day she was going to hunt Lara down and kill her.

No matter what.

Even if it killed her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lilia laughed.

"Thank you, Ms. Williams," she said smoothly, "Just be alert. I'll send her your way."

Lilia put down the phone and smiled.

"And now onto phase two."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"So you ready yet?" Tomoyo asked.

"No!" Meiling yelled back through the door.

"Oh for god's sake!" Tomoyo sighed, "I'm coming in!"

With that she opened the door and stepped into the clothes strewn room as Meiling whirled around.

"What am I going to wear?" she said frantically scrambling through the clothes that Tomoyo had leant her, "What am I..."

Tomoyo laughed and got to work employing her impeccable fashion sense to help her friend.

"This, try this," Tomoyo suggested holding up a dress, "Try it."

Five minutes later, Meiling was nervously plucking the bold plunging neckline of the body-hugging red dress as Tomoyo put the final touches on her make-up.

"Are you sure about this?" Meiling asked nervously.

"Yes!" Tomoyo grabbed her friend's arm and yanked her to her feet, "You look great. I won't be surprised if Marcus spent the whole night just drooling over you!"

With that she pushed Meiling through the door as they waited for Marcus to come out of the spare bedroom.

"I'm so nervous," Meiling whispered.

Tomoyo looked at her.

"Coming from the girl who fights crime every day? The girl who faces the biggest bads in all the world?"

Meiling glared at her.

"Don't you dare laugh."

Tomoyo put on a mock shock look.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

For a little while both of them were silent.

"What's taking him so long?!" Meiling wailed.

Tomoyo couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into peals of laughter as Meiling glared at her and seethed inwardly.

I'm going to kill her

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura opened the door to her apartment and wandered to her phone. Seeing the message light blinking, she frowned in confusion.

Pressing the play button she waited impatiently as the message played itself.

_'Sakura? This is Kiyone Miller. I find out who really killed Nadeshiko... it was Lara Williams one of the Angels I worked with,' _Kiyone sounded upset, _'I also tracked down where she was. She's going to be in a club for the whole night. The club's in Santa Barbara. It's called the Glittering Star. Please, when you get the message come down as fast as you can.'_

The message ended as Sakura stared at her phone.

Without another thought she was driving as fast as she could to Tomoyo's house.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lilia smiled smugly.

"Great job on faking Kiyone's voice. It seems 100 real. That stupid Angel probably brought it hook, line and sinker," Lilia sniggered paying the technician who had pulled it off royally.

Lilia lay back into her chair and snuggled into the leather smiling smugly.

"Bye, bye Angel."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Sakura?" Tomoyo blinked in surprise as she studied her dishevelled friend.

"Tom..."

"It's you," Meiling said coldly appearing at the door.

"Hi, Meiling," Sakura gasped, "Guys..."

"Don't you trust us?" Meiling asked suddenly.

Sakura blinked at her in confusion as Tomoyo spoke up.

"The key," she said sadly, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"This isn't really the time for it," Sakura sighed, "Guys, I've..."

"When can we talk about it?' Meiling demanded, "Sakura, we need to work as a team. Do you trust us?"

"Yes!" Sakura yelled.

Tomoyo eyed her calmly.

"Then why didn't you tell us about the key beforehand?"

"I don't know!" Sakura exploded getting frustrated, "But gu..."

She couldn't believe this. She needed her friends to help her take down Lara and they were questioning her trust? What was wrong with them?!

Okay, breathe Sakura Sakura thought Times running out. Kiyone could be wrong. Lara could leave any second and it will take you hours to drive to Santa Barbara. You don't have time for this!

But still she made one last attempt.

"L..."

"Sakura," Tomoyo sighed cutting her off, "If you don't trust us then I think you have some issues. Until you sort them out, I don't want to talk to you."

"Be careful Sakura," Meiling warned, "Next thing you know you may end up like Lara."

"LIKE LARA?!" Sakura roared outraged, "Who dare you?!"

Giving them both a vicious death glare that could have melted a glacial, Sakura stormed off to her car and drove off as Meiling and Tomoyo stared after her.

"What's with her?" Meiling murmured in the shocked silence that followed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

_Glittering star nightclub, Santa Barbara_

Lara Williams took another sip of her martini and leaned back into her chair waiting patiently for her latest victim to arrive.

That was nice of Lilia to drop a present into her lap. She wondered briefly as Nadeshiko's daughter would be as naïve as her mother. She hoped not. Nadeshiko hadn't been much of a challenge.

Lara smiled and sipped her drink again.

"Like mother, like daughter," she murmured marvelling the twist of fate that had caused this girl to become an Angel like her mother.

And she also thanked the twist of fate that would cause her to fight Nadeshiko's daughter.

Like mother, like daughter...

They would soon both be dead...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

PLEASE! PLEASE REVIEW! The last chapter seemed to have less than 20 reviews. WHAT'S WRONG! If there isn't at least 20 new reviews for this chapter I will never update! So please REVIEW!

Next chapter:

As Meiling and Marcus enjoy their first date, Sakura is caught up in an insane game of cat-and-mouse with her mother's murderer, Lara. Will history repeat itself and Lara triumph again? Find out what happens in... _Angel of Death_

A/Notes: Not much to say this time except for REVIEW! I will not update until I have 20 new reviews! I mean it!

Oh and by the way, was anybody shocked to find out Lara was Nadeshiko's murderer? And please tell me what is your favourite chapter and why (include it in your review)!

THANK YOU!


	19. Angel of Death

Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! This time I will not review unless I have 400 reviews! So PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!

Disclaimer: the only things I own is the storyline and any characters of my invention.

Syaoran's Angels

**Chapter 18: Angel of Death**

Sakura inwardly seethed as she clutched the steering wheel tightly her knuckles turning white as she dug her nails into the soft plastic. Inside a white-hot fury burned in her heart and mind.

How dare she! Sakura raged inwardly How dare she say that!"

She had driven to Tomoyo's house hoping that her friends will help her take down Lara. Never in a million year would she had suspected they would've turned on her...

_'Be careful Sakura,'_ Meiling had warned, _'Next thing you know you may end up like Lara.'_

And Tomoyo...

_'Sakura,_' Tomoyo sighed cutting her off, _'If you don't trust us then I think you have some issues. Until you sort them out, I don't want to talk to you.'_

Sakura sighed and let her anger go knowing that she had to keep a cool and level head if she wanted to fight Lara. But then again, she really couldn't blame them.

She had kept the key secret but... how was she supposed to have told them?

"Guess what guys? I stole this key from Ryan Trong that has freaky powers like making people fly with my mind and healing fatal bullet wounds!"

Oh yeah that would've gone down well.

So they were angry because she didn't tell them about something as important as the key and thought she didn't trust them but on the other hand she didn't tell them because she didn't know how to.

Sakura sighed.

"What a mess," she groaned.

Making a mental promise to herself, Sakura decided that as soon as Lara was dealt with she'll talk to her friends.

With that she sped up determined to meet her mother's murderer face-to-face all the time not knowing that she was walking straight into a trap.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Damn," Meiling murmured softly, "I didn't mean to say that!"

Tomoyo sighed knowing her friend's occasionally lack of tact and her remarkable habit of putting her foot in her mouth at the worse times.

"We could've done without that comment," Tomoyo noted mildly.

Meiling sighed.

"Oh god, when will I learn to think before I speak!" she groaned.

Tomoyo sneaked a glance at her friend and realised for the first time how distressed she actually was.

"Calm down, Meiling," Tomoyo soothed, "Sakura will realise that you didn't mean to say that. Just try to forget about it... I mean you don't want to ruin your first date."

Meiling glared at Tomoyo.

"When are you going to let up?"

"What do you mean?" Tomoyo asked innocently sending an overly sweet smile at Meiling.

"Stop meddling in my love life!" Meiling exploded.

Tomoyo smirked as Meiling blushed realising what she had just said.

"You. Will. Not. Comment," Meiling growled warningly pronouncing each word slowly and carefully.

"Comment on what?" Tomoyo asked blinking in pretend confusion, "Do you mean about the whole meddling in your lo..."

"Arrgghhh!!" Meiling growled in frustration and stormed off as Tomoyo sighed in relief glad that she was able to distract her friend.

Tomoyo stood at her doorway and looked out in the dark night praying that Sakura would forgive them.

"Sorry Sakura," she murmured before turning around and closed the door on the night.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura sighed in relief as she saw the road sign. 'Welcome to Santa Barbara', it read as Sakura sped past the sign and entered the busy seaside city of Santa Barbara. The bright lights coming from the houses, streetlights and nightclubs lining the narrow streets glittered like sparkling gems set against the velvet darkness of the night sky emphasising its brightness and beauty.

Driving down one of the many streets, Sakura both the noisy tourists dotting the pavement and the loud music blaring out from the many clubs as she concentrated on her new mission. Reviewing her plans inside her head she realised she had two problems: firstly she needed a disguise. There was that slim chance that Lara knew what she looked like and she would not risk it.

Second and more importantly, she had no idea where the Glittering Star nightclub was.

"Oh for crying ou..." Sakura began in exasperation.

With a loud audible sigh, Sakura pulled up along the curb of the street and resolved to ask one of the many tourists for directions.

As she walked briskly down the busy street her mind began drifting again taking her far away from this tourist-filled city. Almost unconsciously her hand drifted up to touch the golden key that now dangled down from a chain around her neck.

Thanks to Nivaline, one more piece of the complex puzzle that were the three Books and the mysterious prophecy had fallen into place.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

_Flashback_

The Angels were silent for a while as they tried to digest the revelation Nivaline had just revealed to them.

"Nivaline..." Tomoyo began slowly suddenly realising something that had slipped past her notice before.

Nivaline's hazel-green eyes immediately flicked towards the lavender-eyed Angel.

"Sakura..." the Japanese Angel paused for a few seconds collected herself and plunged on, "When she went out of control and took out all those fighters... afterwards you addressed her as Fei Lao Shi. And then Fei Lao Shi, whatever that is said it couldn't leave the vessel because she is the Flower. You know what the Flower is don't you? You know about the prophecy, don't you?"

Nivaline blinked calmly in the face of Tomoyo's accusations. Serenely she dusted a few specks of dust off her green dress as the Angels stared at her.

"Yes. Yes I do," Nivaline said finally.

"Whoa. Prophecy?" Meiling demanded suddenly, "What prophecy?"

Without even looking at her friend, Tomoyo began reciting the prophecy she had discovered in the archaeological dig. The prophecy that was now burned into her mind, the prophecy that was mysterious but yet was important in their quest for the three books.

"_Three Angels descended from the heavens shall come in the new age,_

_One shall be a fighter,_

_The other a flower,_

_The third a fox, cunning and watchful._

_They shall possess the three:_

_One the sun and the key,_

_Another the earth and the sword,_

_The third the moon and the mirror..._" Tomoyo began.

Sakura and Meiling frowned in confusion as their minds worked furiously trying to figure out what Tomoyo was saying.

Prophecy? Sakura thought a small frown appearing on her face About us?! But tha... that... that's impossible!

Yeah and if a prophecy is impossible then how about that magical key that's hanging around your neck? a small voice in her head muttered sarcastically in reply.

Sakura smiled at that thought.

"_Only they can stop the shadow book,_

_For if it is opened then shadows will engulf the world,_

_All hope, dreams and love will vanish devoured by darkness,_

_And evil shall reign for all eternity_," Nivaline murmured reciting the last few lines of the prophecy.

"Okay..." Meiling muttered slowly, "Huh?"

Nivaline studied them carefully.

"The three Angels I now believe refer to you three. A fighter," Nivaline gestured at Meiling, "A Flower."

Sakura nodded as Nivaline looked at her.

"And the cunning fox," Nivaline's eyes lingered on Tomoyo.

"The three refers to the three books," Nivaline held up her hands to stop Meiling as she opened her mouth to ask a question, "Each book has a guardian to it. The Book of the Fei Lao Shi's guardian is a winged lion called Kerberos. He is also the guardian of the Sun in some mythologies thus the book is known as the Book of the Sun. The second book..."

Nivaline gestured at the book that was now in Meiling's hands.

"Its guardian is a fairy-like creature known as Ruby Moon. She also presides over the forces of the earth because of this the book is known as the Book of the Earth. The third book is the most mysterious of all. We do not know who is its guardian but we do know he is sometimes called the Archer and is also the ruler of the Moon," Nivaline took a deep breath, "To each book a talisman was created in which the essence of the guardian resides in thus giving each talisman magical powers. The talisman of the Book of Fei Lao Shi is the key."

Sakura's hand flew up to touch her key as she listened to what Nivaline was saying with wide eyes.

"The talisman to the other two books is a sword and a mirror. From legends we realise that somehow these two talismans are critical in finding the third and final book," Nivaline paused and looked at the Angels, "But the talismans are extremely powerful and only those with the will and strength to wield it can possess such things of power. If one of those talismans fell into the wrong hands..."

Each of the Angels gulped.

"The world would be plunged into darkness."

_End of Flashback_

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Wow," Meiling breathed, "This is so romantic! How on earth did you find it? It's got to be the most hidden restaurant in all of L.A.!"

Marcus chuckled at Meiling's nervous babbling as he scanned the restaurant. Meiling was right it really was romantic with its dim lighting and the faint chords of a playing piano drifting in the still perfume-scented air. Nestled in the many winding streets and alleyways of L.A., this restaurant was a true hidden gem.

"I'm friends with the owner of this restaurant," Marcus explained as he led Meiling through the door, "One of their customers tried to sue them and I defended them. Ever since then we've been close friends."

"Hmm... so being a lawyer does have its advantages..." Meiling mused as Marcus laughed as he stepped up to the maitre d'.

"Reservation for Flaron."

"Table for two?" the woman asked glancing down at a book that rested on a wooden podium in front of her.

Marcus nodded as the woman smiled at him.

"Please excuse me for a minute whilst I check on your table," the woman gave him a mysterious grin as she disappeared into the restaurant.

Meiling stared after her.

"What was that about?" she asked curiously.

Marcus smiled to himself.

"I can bet you a hundred dollars she's gone to talk to Maria," he replied amused.

"Maria?" Meiling asked glancing at him.

"Maria is the wife of Gino who is the main chef and also owns this restaurant," Marcus explained, "All of their sons have grown up and moved away so they kinda adopted me as one of their own. They're very warm, loving people and can be kinda overprotective so in advance I warn you: prepared to be thoroughly interrogated by her."

Meiling groaned.

"Oh great," she grumbled mocking exasperation, "That means I'll get grilled by two people tonight."

"Two?"

"Tomoyo."

Marcus chuckled.

"What about Sakura?"

Meiling froze.

"Umm... I'm not quite sure where she is tonight..."

Her date frowned and opened his mouth to ask more questions but luckily right at that moment Maria appeared thankfully saving Meiling from answering any awkward questions.

"Ah! Marcus!" Maria exclaimed in a slight Italian accented voice to it as she strolled forwards to wrap Marcus up in a warm hug.

Marcus laughed and returned the hug easily as Maria lightly scolded him.

"How long has it been?" she asked taking a step back and studying his face, "Six months? A year?"

"Around a year," Marcus replied.

Maria looked at his face critically.

"You seem happy..." she commented slowly a broad grin appearing on her roundish face, "It seems to me you've finally find a girl, non? You really do need a woman in your life. Someone that will keep you happy. And poor Lily needs a mother... you can't expect that poor girl to grown up without one do you..."

Marcus smiled warmly and placed a hand on Meiling's hip as he cut into Maria's speech as he introduced the two.

"Actually Maria there's someone I'd like you to meet... Meiling, this was who I was talking about. This is Maria. Maria, Meiling."

Maria studied Meiling's face as her grin grew even broader.

"Beautiful," she proclaimed as Meiling blushed furiously, "And not just on the outside, non?"

Marcus nodded as Maria clasped Meiling's hand in her own and looked deeply into her eye as Meiling began fidgeting nervously.

"Perfect!" Maria announced after a long hard look, "She's perfect!"

"She certainly is," Marcus grinned as he tightened his grip on Meiling's hip and kissed the side of her head lovingly.

Meiling wondered if her face could get any redder.

"Come now, you don't want to starve the poor girl do you?" Maria grabbed Marcus and Meiling's hands and led them into the restaurant, "I've got something special just for the two of you!"

Marcus laughed as Meiling hid a small grin.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura carefully hid all traces of her auburn hair beneath her blonde wig as she checked out the rest of her attire. Loose black pants with a white shirt covered by a black sleeveless leather jacket finished off her disguise. Checking one last time in her mirror, Sakura got out of the car and studied the seemingly abandoned building stand in front of her. It had taken her a precious hour to put together her disguise and find the location of the Glittering Star. She had been surprised to find out that the Glittering Star was in fact an underground nightclub meaning it was hidden and not generally known except for a chosen few. With one last deep breath, Sakura strolled confidently towards the building.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

_'Ms. Williams?'_

"Yes?" Lara answered talking into her mobile phone.

_'She's here.'_

Lara smiled in satisfaction as she watched the many television screens that lined the wall standing in front of her. Each screen was connected to a hidden camera spread out around the club ensuring that she missed nothing that occurred inside.

"Perfect," she murmured as she hung up.

Lara leaned back into her chair and smiled as she waited for her prey to enter the trap.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura tucked the folded a hundred dollar note into the jacket pocket of the bouncer as he nodded and opened a door inside the warehouse. Instantly blaring music and bright lights spilled from the door destroying the dark silence and stillness of the seemingly innocent warehouse.

Sakura nodded her thanks to the bouncer and walked through the door descending down a flight of rickety stairs, her senses were on high alert. Her emerald eyes studied the packed nightclub searching for anything suspicious.

Walking towards the bar, Sakura contemplated her next move. Kiyone had warned her about Lara being here so it stood to reason that she was here somewhere. Sakura nodded making her decision: first she would try to find Kiyone then together they would go after Lara.

As she weaved in and out of the shouting dancing crowds, Sakura was unaware of the fact that a hidden camera nestled in a ceiling corner above her was following her every move.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"How is it?" Marcus asked as Meiling slipped a bite of her immense plate of ravioli into her mouth.

"Mmmm..." Meiling sighed, "This is delicious."

Marcus smiled as he took a sip of his wine.

"You didn't answer my question," he reminded her as he watched her take another bite.

Meiling blinked at her in confusion as Marcus hid a smile thinking how beautiful she looked, her ruby eyes appearing to glow in the candlelight.

"About the Angel thing," Marcus added helping her.

Meiling blushed and took a sip from her glass as she straightened and tried to collect her thoughts. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't think straight with Marcus sitting across from her, his strong hand stroking the glittering silver of his fork and his other hand resting on the white linen cloth covering the table surface. Meiling wondered briefly how those hands would feel on her and shivered in pleasure.

Whoa! Calm down and get a grip here! her mind yelled at her.

Meiling cleared her throat and tried again.

"Oh, yeah," she took a deep breath as Marcus smiled knowing full well the effect he was having on her, "Me, Sakura and Tomoyo... I'm not really sure about their stories but I grew up in China and was trained in the arts of hand-to-hand combat ever since I was five. When I was eighteen and graduated from high school, my family made me move here to study in Yale..."

"Yale? I'm impressed," Marcus grinned.

Meiling smiled back at him and continued her story.

"I wasn't really interested in studying but knew I couldn't get a decent job without a degree of some sorts so I forced myself then one day I was contacted by phone to go to L.A. It was really cryptic and so, intrigued I came here and went to what is now our headquarters when I arrived there I find two other girls waiting," Meiling smiled at the memory, "The Syaoran contacted us through the speaker box and told us what Angels were. All of us agreed to join but..."

Meiling trailed off as Marcus frowned.

"But what?" he said gently.

Meiling sighed.

"We didn't really get along well those days," Meiling chuckled, "I thought Sakura was an airhead idiot and secretly nicknamed Tomoyo as the 'Ice Queen' because she was really aloof and unemotional back then. Secretly I knew Sakura and Tomoyo thought I was so kind of obsessed trigger-happy freak."

Marcus laughed.

"I wonder where they got that idea?" he teased.

Meiling mock frowned at him and smacked his hand gently as she continued her story.

"Our first mission was an absolute disaster but gradually we learned to work together," Meiling took a deep breath, "How about your life story since I already spilled all my darkest secrets? How did you meet Lily's mother..."

Meiling frowned as she realised she didn't know her name as a sad smile appeared on Marcus's face. Meiling began to panic realising that her question really was personal.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to..." she began hurriedly.

Marcus stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm.

"It's okay," he said softly, "I want to tell you everything. You have a right to know. It's just painful..."

Meiling nodded understandingly as Marcus closed his eyes and began his story.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Lara picked up her phone and punched in several numbers.

"Send in some of the bouncers," she commanded, "Go after that blonde-haired girl wearing the leather sleeveless jacket."

_'Yes, marm.'_

Lara hung up and watched intently as the drama on the screen unfolded.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura tensed as she sensed several people were standing right behind her. Reminding herself to stay in character as an airhead party girl, Sakura whirled around and sent them a brilliant grin.

"Yes?" she asked batting her emerald eyes.

The men behind her were all massive. They towered above anybody else inside the club and Sakura guessed in between them they had at least a tonne of solid muscle. Inwardly she gulped as she studied them. Each of them was dressed in the same fashion: black t-shirts and black suits with a white tie. Sakura could see faint outlines of holsters with guns thrust into them through their thin silk black shirts as the men moved.

"Marm, would you like to come with us?" one of them asked.

Sakura pretend to giggle and gave a delicate hiccup.

"Why?" she drawled as she blinked owlishly at them.

"You don't have a choice," another man answered darkly.

Damn Sakura thought as she kept up her drunken act They know about me somehow

She knew if she put up a fight they wouldn't hesitate to shoot her. She had to come up with a plan and fast.

Sakura smiled at them flirtatiously.

"Sure, I'll go anywhere you want to."

The men grabbed her arms and dragged her out of the main room of the club leading her through another door. Sakura quickly studied her new surroundings. They were in some kind strange room, which had only one other exit aside from the one they had just gone through. Through the other open door Sakura could see that it was filled with flimsy barricades made of thin pieces of wood nailed onto frames that were put together to form some kind of bizarre maze that seemed to stretch on for miles. Sakura grinned at the men foolishly.

"What's going on?" she slurred.

"Shoot her," one of the men commanded as they all reached for their guns.

Sakura lunged at them throwing one of the men into the other. There were five of them. Sakura cursed loudly as she kicked another man's legs out from under him causing him to topple over. She finished her off with a swift kick to the head and turned around to deal with the other four. One man had his gun already out and fired blindly at her as she charged at him. Bullets sailed overhead as Sakura lowered her head and head-butted the man in the stomach driving the air out of him.

As she fought, a hidden camera nestled on the ceiling watched intently.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Hmmm... she is good," Lara smiled, "So Lilia was right."

Lara watched as Nadeshiko's daughter rammed another bouncer into the wall.

"Guess I have to deal with this personally," Lara commented as she got up and exited the room.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," Meiling murmured as Marcus finished his story.

Marcus smiled gratefully at her as Meiling tried to digest what Marcus had told her. If she ever got her hands on Malus Harrason... Marcus took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he grinned at her.

"Come on, this is a date! We should be having fun!" he exclaimed trying to break the tension.

Meiling looked down at her empty dessert plate and smiled at him.

"Where to now?" she asked.

Marcus laughed.

"It's a surprise," he teased and extended his hand to her helping her up.

"Come on," he murmured as he gently nuzzled her neck, "We'll sneak out before Maria grills you again."

Marcus left a few dollar notes on the table before leaving the restaurant together as a couple.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura kicked the last man away and sighed with relief as she saw they were all knocked out.

"That was easy," she noted as she studied the room she was in slowly, "Hmm... I wonder what thi..."

"Hello dear," a soft voice called to her as the door opened allowing loud music to pour into the room.

Sakura froze as the woman standing in front of her closed the door behind her cutting the music off plunging the room back into silence. Sakura studied the woman who was wearing a white-coloured two-piece suit complete with trousers and a cream-coloured tie. Sakura sucked in her breath as she stared at her face in shock.

Blonde hair...

Innocent blue eyes...

Soft red lips that were now curled up into a small smirk...

"Lara!" Sakura hissed.

"The one and only," Lara laughed, "And the answer to your little question: this is what I call my Kill Room. See that little maze behind you? I let my poor victims in there. Give them a few seconds head start and give them just the tiniest bit of hope they can escape but then of course..."

Lara sniggered.

"They never escape me."

"You..." Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"So Nadeshiko's daughter? The apple does fall far from the tree," Lara smirked, "Oh it was so fun watching Nadeshiko's face as she realised I betrayed her. The shock. The horror. The..."

"You son of a..." Sakura lunged at her as Lara laughed.

Grabbing her outstretched fist Lara pulled Sakura to her before spinning her around and snapping a vicious kick to her back. Sakura was sent stumbling to the ground as Lara laughed.

"Nice try," she smirked as she strolled slowly to Sakura.

Before the American Angel could recover from Lara's kick, the rogue Angel grabbed her wig and yanked it off.

"Nice hair," Lara smirked before grabbing her real hair and yanking it back painfully as Sakura bit down onto her tongue to hold back her yelp of pain.

"Run," she whispered as she heaved Sakura to her feet and hurled her into the wooden labyrinth of the Kill Room, "Run now little mouse."

Lara laughed as Sakura fled into the maze.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Meiling smiled softly as Marcus stopped the car he had borrowed from Tomoyo.

"It's beautiful," she murmured.

"Sure is isn't it?" Marcus agreed as they studied the scene spread out before them.

Set against the darkness of the still night, reflecting the brilliance of the pale moon overhead the ocean glittered like a sheet of beaten silver warped in fantastic shapes as waves threw themselves up against the sandy beach. All was silent except for the faint hiss of the waves being sucked back into ocean, a light breeze danced across the surface of the sea drawing up small spikes of water up into night sky.

"Not as beautiful as you," Marcus murmured as he hugged the Angel to her.

Meiling smiled into his neck as she breathed in the scent of his cologne and the sweet scent that was uniquely his.

"Come on," Marcus urged as he opened the car door.

Meiling giggled and followed suit. As they walked down the narrow path to the beach they stayed close to each other, Marcus's arm wrapped protectively around Meiling's waist.

"It's even more beautiful from here," Meiling whispered softly as Marcus and her stood at the edge of the beach as gentle waves lapped at the soft sand.

"You know I used to bring my wife here all the time," Marcus murmured his voice tinged with sadness and wistfulness, "It was our special place."

Meiling broke away from him and turned around to stared into his emotion-filled eyes. She smiled realising how special this was to him. He was taking her to someplace that he held dear to his heart. A place, which reminded him of his wife and all the wonderful times they had together but he was still willing to share it with her. To show her just how deep his feelings were for her.

"I love you," she said simply.

Marcus smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you too."

And with that they kissed.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura ran down the complex maze of wooden barricades as she tried to come up with a feasible plan.

This was a trap she realized suddenly.

It had been a trap all along.

And she had walked straight into it.

Sakura knew to fight Lara one-on-one was foolish; the other Angel was obviously more powerful and more skilled. She needed to outsmart her. She needed to lure Lara into her own trap but how?

The only reason she had entered this so-called 'Kill Room' was to buy herself some time until she came up with a working plan. Darting into another narrow hallway bordered by two long wooden barricades Sakura's senses were on high alert trying to pick up the faintest sound of footsteps.

So far aside from her own, she heard nothing.

Heading roughly towards what she hoped was the centre of this maze Sakura knew that Lara already had an advantage.

This was her home ground.

The rogue Angel probably knew the outlay of this maze like the back of her hand.

"Damn," Sakura growled as she realized that for now Lara had the advantage.

Time was running out and Sakura still didn't know what do to.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Lara chuckled as she let a whole minute pass.

"Ready or not, here I come!" she called in a singsong voice.

With that she entered her Kill Room eager to bring down the younger Angel. To finish off what she had started when she murdered Nadeshiko in cold blood.

"Let the hunt begin," Lara smirked as she ran down the labyrinth of wooden walls and twisting turns.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura turned another corner and darted into another narrow walkway. She tried to turn as much as possible hoping to throw Lara off her trail.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Sakura could hear Lara's voice echoing through the immense room.

She winced.

Now the real fun was about to begin.

"How big is this place?" Sakura muttered to herself as she ran as fast as she could.

She had the distinct feeling she was running uphill but she couldn't be sure as all her senses of direction and time were being thrown off by the cramped walls and dim lighting.

"Ah! There you are!" Lara's voice yelled coming from straight behind her.

Sakura whirled around in time to see Lara launch a flying kick straight at her. It hit her in the chest causing her to stumble backwards. Sakura landed heavily but jumped nimbly to her feet in time to block Lara's vicious right hook that was aimed straight for her.

Managed to penetrate Lara's defences Sakura landed a powerful kick to her stomach.

"Damn," Lara snarled looking down at her clothes and seeing that Sakura had left a dusty footprint on her shirt, "I just got this!"

With a feral cry, Lara smacked her head against Sakura's and slammed her into one of the wooden barricades. Sakura blinked furiously trying to clear her vision as Lara tightened her grip on her.

"Well, that was quick," Lara smirked, "And I thought you were supposed to be an Angel!"

Sakura spat in Lara's face and returned the favour by smacking head-butting her in the jaw. Lara's head snapped back as Sakura broke free of her grip and with one powerful kick sent Lara flying into the other side of the narrow corridor.

"BANG!" Lara was sent flying through the thin wooden walls as the narrow wood planks shattered under the force of Sakura's kick.

The rogue Angel landed heavily on the other side as Sakura gave herself one precious second to suck in a few grateful breaths of air.

"Round One: I win!" Sakura spat as she whirled around and disappeared back into the maze of the Kill Room.

For a few seconds, Lara lay motionless amongst the debris of the shattered wooden wall. Slowly her fingers began twitching as she slowly recovered.

With a loud groan, she levered herself from the mess of broken wood and splinters and stood up slowly.

"Bitch," Lara snarled her voice filled with rage and venom, "I'll get you for that!"

The rogue Angel let out a bellow of fury and raced down the hallway intent on crushing her enemy her white coat billowing behind her like two massive pairs of white wings.

With her gold hair and smooth milk-white skin, she looked like a celestial Angel descended from the heavens.

An Angel of Death.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Brinnnnng!! Brinnnng!!'

Tomoyo jumped as her whole body tensed for a few seconds until she realised that strange sound was only her phone going off.

"I'll get it!" she called to Lily who was sitting the in living room watching a movie.

Tomoyo saved the research she was doing on her computer before reaching over the desk and picking up her phone.

"Hello?" she asked as she pressed the phone against her shoulder with her ear leaving her hands free to type.

_'Is this Tomoyo Daidouji?'_

"Yes," Tomoyo frowned hearing the unfamiliar voice, "Who is this?"

_'Umm... this is Eriol... you know? Eriol Moon?'_

"Eriol!" Tomoyo exclaimed surprised but pleased, "Yeah, I remember you. Why are you calling?"

_'I tried calling you these last few days but no-one was home except for some man and his daughter...'_

"Yeah, the man was that friend of my we were talking about in that ice-cream shop," she replied answering his unsaid question.

_'Oh.'_

"Why are you calling?" Tomoyo asked with a frown as she continued typing, "And come to think of it how did you get my number?"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

_'And come to think of it how did you get my number?'_

Eriol froze.

Damn it! he swore violently inside his head as he suddenly realised Tomoyo had never given him her number.

He couldn't very well tell the truth.

'Hey Tomoyo, I got your number of a bunch of files I have on you and your friends because I'm an assassin hired to kill all of you slowly and painfully.'

Yeah, that'll go down really well.

"Umm... phonebook?" he said almost as a question.

_'Oh.'_

Eriol breathed a sigh of relief.

"Umm.. yeah... I'm ringing up because I'm just wondering if you've doing anything tomorrow night."

_'Tomorrow? No.'_

"Great, would you like to do something..." Eriol trailed off before clarifying, "With me."

_'I'd love to!' _Tomoyo's happy voice came down the line, _'What time?'_

"I'll pick you up... seven? Dress nicely," Eriol advised.

_'Great! See you then!'_

With that Tomoyo hung up leaving behind a very confused Eriol.

"Am I falling in love with her?" he asked to no one in particularly.

With a long groan, Eriol went to bed trying to erase the thoughts of a certain Japanese Angel from her mind.

After two long, dragging hours of lying in bed, Eriol still couldn't go to sleep no matter how much he tossed and turned.

"That's it!" he growled in frustration getting up.

He needed a long cold shower.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"BANG!"

Sakura hissed in pain as Lara landed another painful kick on her driving her back into a wall. After driving Lara through the wall, Sakura had tried to get out of this Kill Room but ten minutes later Lara had found her again and here they were rumbling it out in royal style.

"CRUNCH!"

Lara was sent tumbling as Sakura nailed an uppercut to her chin.

"That hurt!" Lara snarled holding her badly bruised jaw.

"Aww... that's just too bad," Sakura smirked.

Lara let out an angry scream as she lunged at Sakura.

"BAM!"

A powerful kick hit Sakura in her chest as Lara whipped her other leg around punishing her with a painful kick to the side of her head. Sakura's head snapped painfully to the right as she struggled to keep her balance. Her vision went grey as darkness clawed at the edges of her consciousness.

Gotta keep awake here! her mind yelled at her.

Reacting on instinct and reflexes alone, Sakura managed to block an attempted kick to her leg but was too slow to block a rabbit punch to her stomach. Keeling over in pain Sakura let out a strangled gasp as Lara did a perfect flip in the air timing it so both of her feet smacked Sakura in the head. Sakura was sent flying as Lara laughed in glee.

"Ow!" Lara laughed, "That must've hurt!"

Sakura somehow managed to stagger onto her feet.

"I'm not finished yet, you old witch!" she snarled charging Lara.

Lara managed to kick her in the shoulders but Sakura ignored the pain instead she pinned Lara's arms to her side as she ran blindly across the hallway.

"CRACK!"

The wooden barricades literally exploded as Sakura ploughed straight through it using Lara as a shield. The rogue Angel let out a huge scream of pain as splinters dug into her back but managed to kick Sakura in the thigh causing the Angel to let go of her and stumble to the ground.

"Wow!" Lara said with fake-awe, "You're the first one to escape the Kill Room!"

Sakura looked around blinking furiously trying to clear her vision. Somehow they had managed to escape the wooden barricades and maze-like structure of the Kill Room, now they were in another room. This one had dull grey concrete walls and nothing else aside from a window set in the far wall. Through the window Sakura could see the cold silver light of the full moon outside.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Lara asked turning around to see what she was looking at, "Want a closer look?'

With that Lara grabbed Sakura's hair and threw her across the room.

"Oof!"

The air was driven from Sakura's battered body as Lara laughed as she sashayed towards the fallen Angel.

"Don't you want to look at the pretty moon?" Lara cooed as she kicked Sakura in the ribs.

Sakura groaned in pain as Lara placed her left foot on her back and pushed down to the ground pinning her there.

"Come on, answer me," the blonde-haired Angel laughed, "It's disrespectful not to answer.

"Go... go... to.. hell!" Sakura managed to spat between gasping breaths.

"Now, now," Lara tutted, "That's not very nice, is it?"

She knelt down and grabbed Sakura by her neck yanking her up to her level so they were face-to-face.

"Any last words?" Lara asked batting her big blue eyes innocently.

"Screw you!" Sakura snarled.

"Hmm... not very memorable but I'll do," Lara gave her one final venom-laced smile, "I've always wondered... can Angels fly?"

With that she hurled Sakura at the window.

"KWISH!" The window shattered as Sakura sailed through the glass its jagged edges leaving behind long cuts all along her body.

Sakura managed to twist around so she could see where she was going to land. To her immense relief, she was looking straight at the dark churning surface of an massive ocean.

Oh good water, I may survive this her mind managed to say numbly as Sakura tried to spread her throbbing limbs out to slow down her fall.

The wind whipped her hair back as Sakura closed her eyes.

The ocean surface was approaching.

Closer.

And closer.

And closer.

Pain roared through her body as Sakura felt her body start to shut down.

"No..." she managed to murmur only to have salty water rush into her lips and down into her lungs.

Choking her.

Killing her.

Her limbs felt strange; they were going numb whereas before they ached with pains.

She could hear her heart beating inside her chest.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

It was slowing down.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump...

Silence.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura opened her eyes as bright light assaulted her delicate irises.

"Where am I?" she gasped as she stood up.

She was standing in some strange place she had never been in before. Bright light poured out from some unknown source as Sakura looked around. Tendrils of white mist curled itself around her legs and arms as Sakura strained to see through the ethereal fog.

"Where am I?" she repeated.

"Sakura..." a soft voice said behind her.

Sakura whirled around and gasped her jaws hanging open in shock. A woman was standing behind clad in a long flowing white dress.

Long slightly curly strands of grey-brown hair framed her delicate pale face. A pair of serene violet eyes stared back at her. Sakura tried to speak but failed as a lump formed in her throat finally one single word managed to work itself out of her lips.

"Mom?!"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Dun, dun, dun! Another cliffhanger! And thanks to all you wonderful reviews! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Next chapter:

As Tomoyo prepares for her first official date with Eriol, she and Meiling are unaware of Sakura's clash with Lara and are puzzled at her mysterious disappearance. As for Sakura, she now lies in a coma as she is visited by the spirit of her mom. But Sakura quickly realises that there is more at stake here as she is also visited by Kerberos bearing more news of the mysterious prophecy. Where does Kerberos tell her? Find out in... _Dreamer._

A/Note: Thanks for all the wonderful reviewers! And please keep telling me your favourite chapters! The favourites are usually Showdown, No mercy, Mission and masquerades and Talisman of the Sun so please, please include your favourite chapter in your reviews!

And for ms. evil... thanks for reviewing after the long, long period. And thanks, even I didn't know this story would be such a success! And for that I thank all of you!

Thank you all for spending the time to read and review!


	20. Dreamer

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! I WILL NEVER, EVER UPDATE UNTIL I HAVE OVER 420 REVIEWS!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything aside from the storyline and characters of my creation.

Oh, and a brief thank you for everybody who reviewed! Please, keep them coming!

**Syaoran's Angels**

Chapter 19: Dreamer

Sakura opened her eyes as bright light assaulted her delicate irises.

"Where am I?" she gasped as she stood up.

She was standing in some strange place she had never been in before. Bright light poured out from some unknown source as Sakura looked around. Tendrils of white mist curled itself around her legs and arms as Sakura strained to see through the ethereal fog.

"Where am I?" she repeated.

"Sakura..." a soft voice said behind her.

Sakura whirled around and gasped her jaws hanging open in shock. A woman was standing behind clad in a long flowing white dress.

Long slightly curly strands of grey-brown hair framed her delicate pale face. A pair of serene violet eyes stared back at her. Sakura tried to speak but failed as a lump formed in her throat finally one single word managed to work itself out of her lips.

"Mom?!"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Tomoyo awoke with a start. Sitting up in her bed, she frowned trying to figure out what had just woken her. Faintly she could hear the sound of a car pulling up in her driveway, blinking the sleep from her eyes she glanced at her beside clock.

3:00am, the red glowing letters proclaimed.

She frowned wondering who would be coming to her house so early in the morning. All thoughts of the time was chased out of her head as she heard the distinct sound of her front door unlocking and she tensed, ready to spring out of bed and rush to confront this intruder.

Suddenly a familiar laughter penetrated the silence of the house as Tomoyo allowed her body to relax. A broad grin appeared on Tomoyo's face as she wondered idly why Meiling and Marcus were coming home so late.

Lying back in her bed to go to sleep, Tomoyo made a mental late to interrogate Meiling in the morning.

With a loud yawn, Tomoyo drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly a small butterfly with bright sapphire wings flew in through her open window and descended onto Tomoyo's nose. Landing lightly on her, its small wings began glowing brightly bathing Tomoyo's face in bright blue light. After a short while, the glowing stopped and the butterfly flew out through the open window once more disappearing into the night sky.

Unaware of her strange night guest, Tomoyo slept on.

And as she slept, she dreamt.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Mom?!" Sakura gasped.

"Sakura," Nadeshiko murmured smiling at her sadly, "My dear daughter..."

"Mom?" Sakura repeated disbelievingly, "I thought... I mean... aren't you... weren't you... dad... Kiyone... Nivaline... told me... dead!"

Nadeshiko smiled sadly at her.

"I am," she said gently.

"But you're here... how can you..." Sakura bit back a sob, "Mom, I've missed you!"

She ran straight at her mother intent to wrapping her up in a hug but to her shock and horror she passed straight through her mother's body. A shudder ran through her body as Sakura struggled to keep her emotions in check.

"Mom?" Sakura asked timidly whirling around to stare at her.

Nadeshiko turned around slowly.

"I'm dead, my dear," Nadeshiko repeated gently.

Sakura stared at her in horror.

"Whe...wher... where am I?" Sakura managed to stammer.

"The limbo."

"Limbo?" Sakura asked faintly trying to figure out what was going on.

"The region between heaven and hell. The grey area so to speak," Nadeshiko took a deep breath, "The domain of ghosts and spirits."

Sakura stared at her.

"Mom?" her voice broke, "Am I dead?"

Nadeshiko stared at her and smiled sadly at her.

"I hope not."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Lara strolled over to the window and smiled in satisfaction as she saw the Angel's body plummet into the churning ocean followed by a loud satisfying splash.

"Guess Angels can't fly," Lara smirked as she turned around and walked away.

With her back turned towards the window Lara didn't see what happened next. Suddenly beneath the ocean surface a bright glowing light could be seen burning through the water as the ocean seethed and surged as the glowing became brighter and brighter.

With a might roar, the ocean parted rippling out in circular motion leaving behind a tiny path of rock exposed to the air as the water raged against an invisible barrier that had appeared around the bright light. The light formed into a dense ball as it slowly rose into the air pushing the water back even further.

As it floated above the ocean's surface, the light faded altogether revealing Sakura, her body limp and badly battered, seawater streaming down her body. The ocean water below returned to normal as the key around her neck burst into golden light burning like a star in the night sky. Light burst from the key in opaque ribbons wrapping themselves around Sakura's body.

With a final bright flash of light that illuminated the dark sea and sky, the light and Sakura vanished.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Five seconds later, to the astonishment to the nurses and doctors of Santa Barbara hospital, an unconscious woman was mysteriously find in the car park her body badly bruised.

Twenty minutes after that and after several tests, the mysterious auburn-haired woman was proclaimed to be in a coma and shifted to the coma ward where she now rests.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Tomoyo blinked slowly.

"Where am I?" she murmured her voice coming out distorted as though every syllable had been slowed down and dragged out.

She was standing in a forest of some kind. Tall imposing trees with thick round trunks shot up from the grassy, leaf-littered ground their emerald leaves swaying in an invisible breeze. The meagre sunlight that had managed to penetrate the canopy formed thin spears of light that hit the ground causing the watery dew on the ground to glimmer like diamonds and pearls. Tomoyo looked around in confusion as a thick cloud of mist descended onto the forest leaving her impervious of her surroundings.

"What the?" she murmured her voice still distorted.

Suddenly the sound of someone singing pierced through the cloud of grey. The song was in a language that Tomoyo did not understand: it was lilting and flowed like water over smooth pebbles. The singing got louder and louder as Tomoyo tensed. Suddenly with no warning at all the mist dissolved revealing a peculiar woman standing in front of her.

Tomoyo stared at her as a pair of pale green eyes stared back. She wore a light pink ball gown that that billowed out to form a full skirt at the hip. The fabric seemed to glow with some internal light as the woman swayed her body gracefully as she hummed a soft tune. Her hair was a pale cream colour as her skin and was curled in a style that seemed to defy gravity. The only spots of colour on her pale skin were the strange pink-coloured tattoo that rested in between her two eyes and the ruby rose-shaped earrings that dangled from her ears.

"Hello?" Tomoyo said slowly changing her greeting into a question.

She blinked as her voice came out this time undistorted. The woman smiled mysteriously at her.

"Umm... who are you?" Tomoyo asked as the woman continued to smile at her.

Suddenly the air seemed to turn dark and menacing as the woman's soft smile fell. A panicked look came over her face as Tomoyo looked around the hair on the back of her neck rising as the feeling of wrongness and malice increased almost like a pressure on her mind.

The ground beneath her shook as Tomoyo gasped in shock and leapt back. With a loud rumble, the ground split as something shot up into the air. The woman's jaws opened in shock as her pale green eyes stared at the tree that had just erupted from the ground in horror. Tomoyo studied the tree. It was cherry blossom tree: the soft delicate pink of its flowers contrasting against the light grey of its bark as it swayed in a gentle breeze.

Suddenly the sky overhead roared as a massive bolt of blue lightning flew down from the skies and struck the tree. Tomoyo gasped in horror as the tree's trunk was neatly sliced in half, splinters exploding out in all directions as the tree collapsed hitting the ground with a loud thud, small flames racing across its trunk and branches.

"Fox," the strange pink-haired woman murmured speaking for the first time.

Tomoyo looked at her as the woman looked at her seriously.

"The Flower has fallen," she said softly, "The Flower has fallen."

With that the woman gestured as her body dissolved into multi-coloured petals before being swept away by a light breeze. Tomoyo stared at the spot where the woman had just been standing on a second ago as her mind worked furiously trying to figure out what was going on.

"This is a dream..." she realised.

Suddenly she let out a surprised cry as her body began dissolving into grey smoke.

"Wha..." her question was cut off as her whole body dissolved and was borne away by an invisible breeze.

The cherry blossom tree continued to burn as many leagues away Sakura stared at her mother in shock.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"What?" her voice came out as a tiny squeak.

"Pardon," Nadeshiko corrected sternly, "What is impolite."

Sakura wondered if it was normal for a dead person to be corrected by their also dead mother on the proper language to use.

"Pardon?"

Nadeshiko nodded as Sakura waited impatiently for an answer.

"This is the limbo, the realm that exists between what you would call heaven and hell. I remain here so I can watch over you and your father," Nadeshiko explained.

Suddenly a sad smile adorned her soft lips.

"I miss him so much..." she whispered wistfully as a small tear ran down her face.

"He misses you too," Sakura swallowed the lump gathering in her throat, "I miss you too... a lot."

Nadeshiko looked at her, a melancholy expression appearing on her face.

"I know."

"If I'm here. Does this mean..." Sakura took a second to compose herself before speaking, "I'm dead."

Nadeshiko shook her head.

"Thankfully, no."

"But isn't it only dead people are allowed here?"

"Dead people and those who are in comas," Nadeshiko explained, "Since you can't touch me, I'm believe it's the latter."

"Coma?" Sakura said hesitantly.

Slowly visions appeared in her head. Lara... the Glittering Star nightclub... trap... the Kill Room... Lara hurling her through the window...  
"Kiyone gave me a phone number..."

"Kiyone doesn't know your phone number," Nadeshiko interjected gently, "Spinnel Corporation faked her voice and gave you the call to lure you into the trap..."

"Why those nasty god damn son of a..." Sakura began, furious.

"Sakura!" Nadeshiko scolded, "Language!"

Sakura blushed.

"Sorry, mom," Sakura took a deep breath, "She hurled me out of this window. I must've landed into the ocean and... I'm in a coma... but how? I would've drowned in the sea by now."

"Not necessary," a new voice said from behind her.

Sakura whirled around and gasped as she stared at the new voice.

"The key wouldn't allow it," the voice continued.

"Who?" Sakura said faintly.

Nadeshiko smiled at their new speaker.

"Hello Kerberos," she said simply.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Tomoyo woke up slowly blinking her lavender eyes as bright sunlight assaulted them. Stifling a yawn, she sat up in her bed. Frowning she had the distinct feeling there was something she was supposed to remember...

Her dream.

The forest.

The strange woman.

And... and... and...

Blank.

Tomoyo blinked in confusion. There was something important she had to remember, she was sure of it. But she just couldn't put her figure on it... What was it? There was something... the forest... the mist... the woman.

She growled in frustration as once again the answer to her question lingered tantalizingly close to the threshold of her memory but she couldn't figure it out for the life of her.  
The Japanese Angel sighed in resignation and shrugged.

It probably wasn't important anyway.

Suddenly a wicked smile appeared on her face as she remembered Meiling and Marcus's late date the night before.

It was time to grill her friend.

Still grinning she exited her bedroom and got ready for the busy day ahead.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Aunty 'Moyo!" Lily greeted her cheerfully from her perch on the couch before turning all her attention back to the television grin.

"Morning," Tomoyo said cheerfully to Marcus who managed to fight off his tiredness long enough to send her a small grin.

"Where's Meiling?" Tomoyo asked.

"She's still asleep," Marcus stifled a yawn as he sipped his steaming cup of black coffee.

Pouring herself a cup and loading sugar and milk into it, Tomoyo raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"Still asleep?" she asked surprised, "She's usually up at dawn."  
Marcus shrugged.

"We have a late night," he explained.

Tomoyo smiled at him wickedly.

"So what mischief did you get up to last night?"

Marcus blushed as he suddenly became very interested in the way the steam was rising out of his cup.

"I'm in love with her," he quietly confessed.

Tomoyo grinned at him delightedly.

"That's great," she exclaimed, "You're perfect for each other! And I mean it, you're probably the first person to got through Meiling's shell. And she's in love with you too. Really in love."

Marcus looked up at her and smiled at her gratefully.

"Thanks," he whispered.

Tomoyo nodded and poured some coffee into another cup as she left the kitchen and walked to one of her spare bedrooms.

"Knock, knock!" she said cheerfully opening the door.

"Get out," Meiling said groggily without opening her eyes.

"Come on," Tomoyo chirped, "It's morning already and we've got an early meeting with Syaoran at seven-thirty."

Meiling groaned as she somehow levered herself out of bed and sat up wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"What time is it?" Meiling managed to groan.

"Seven," Tomoyo said cheerfully as she pulled back the curtains.

"SEVEN!?" Meiling shrieked, "We're going to be late!"

Meiling hurriedly changed as Tomoyo rolled her eyes and left the room. Drifting into her living room, she noticed that the message light on her answering machine was blinking. Not really focusing on what she was doing, she walked over to it and hit the play button before sitting down beside Lily on the couch.

_'You have... one message,' _the phone announced.

There was a slight pause as the machine retrieved the message and began playing it.

_'Tomoyo? This is Sakura,' _Tomoyo winced expecting a tirade from her friend, _'An emergency came up. I have to leave town for a few days. I'll be back soon so don't worry.'_

There was a loud bleep as the message ended as Meiling wandered into the living room.

"Who was that from?" she asked curiously.

Tomoyo frowned as she briefly wondered what emergency had come up so suddenly for Sakura to leave without telling them personally.

"It was Sakura," Tomoyo said distractedly.

Meiling's eyes widened.

"Is she alright?" she asked hurriedly, "Is there som..."

Tomoyo waved her hand to cut her off.

"She's fine, she just called to tell us some emergency came up."

"Why didn't she tell us personally?" Meiling demanded.

Tomoyo frowned as she thought back to the night before.

"She probably tried to..." Tomoyo said slowly, "Remember last night..."

Meiling hung her head in shame as she remembered what she had said to Sakura.

"But we never gave her the chance," Meiling finished off miserably.

Marcus frowned hearing Meiling sounding so depressed but wisely decided not to interfere.

"Come on," Tomoyo urged trying to rouse her friend from her depressed state, "We've got to go or we'll be late."

Meiling looked at the clock and began panicked whilst Tomoyo hid a smirk and grabbed her car keys disappearing into her garage as Meiling turned to Marcus who was still sitting at the kitchen counter.

"Bye," she said shyly giving Marcus a quick kiss before darting out the door after Tomoyo.

Slipping into the car beside Tomoyo, Meiling hurriedly strapped herself in as Tomoyo started the engine.

"So how did your date go yesterday?" Tomoyo asked casually.

Meiling glared at her.

"None of your business," she said waspishly.

"Awww... Meiling!" Tomoyo batted her eyelids, "Please? Just minor details."

Meiling was adamant.

"No."

"Plllleeeeassseeee??"

"No."

"Awww..."

"Let's just go," Meiling growled.

"No fun," Tomoyo pouted as she reversed out of the driveway and they were on their way.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Lilia smiled wickedly as she hung up on her mobile phone. Still smiling she picked up the phone lying on her desk and punched in a series of numbers.

"William," she said smoothly into her phone.

_'Yes, Ms. Faren?' _Her secretary asked.

"Send in a bottle of champagne," Lilia ordered, "I'm celebrating."

Leaning back into her chair, Lilia smirked. Her plan was foolproof. It was absolutely perfect. An absolute stroke of genius.

Once again, Lilia congratulated herself for coming up with such a wonderful plan. If she didn't get promoted for this... One of the Angels was now dead thanks to Lara and the fake call she had placed on the other Angel's phone must've thrown the other two off the trail.

Smiling contently, she put another phase of her plan in motion. Picking up her mobile phone, she dialled in another number.

"Rika?" she asked as someone picked up on the other side.

There was no answer aside from the quiet sound of someone breathing gently down the line.

"Take care of the others," she ordered before hanging up.

Lilia smiled.

The promotion was definitely hers now. All her opponents had been eliminated and now the Angels were as good as dead.

"It's good to be me!"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"What?" Sakura demanded turning to her mother, "Kerberos?! You're th.. the..."

"Greetings, Flower," the creature behind her spoke.

Sakura whirled around and face the beast standing behind her. It looked like a massive lion with intelligent amber eyes and silky golden fur, its tail swishing the mist around impatiently. A pair of immense feathered wings sprouted from its hackles as the large ruby set into the metal helmet adorning his head glowed with an internal light. More armour plates with strips of gold inlaid into the metal protected his neck and shoulders as Sakura gaped at him, studying him.

"The Book..." she murmured slowly trying to absorb what she was seeing.

"Correct, I'm Kerberos," the winged-lion growled, "The Beast of the Seal."

"Seal?" Sakura asked images of swimming mammals appearing inside her head.

"I'm the guardian that the Elder spoke off, the guardian of the Book of Fei Lao Shi," Kerberos continued ignoring Sakura's question, "I come to you in these dire times to show you something."

Elder?! Then Sakura remember that Nivaline was the Elder Kerberos was talking about. How did he know what Nivaline had told her? Sakura was jolted out of her musings as Nadeshiko spoke.

"Sakura, my dear," she said gently, "You, my daughter are part of an ancient prophecy that has existed for millenniums ever since the Shang Dynasty of China."

"Shang?!" Sakura gasped, "But tha.. that... that's like 3000 years ago!"

"Yes, it is," Kerberos said gravely, "By the prophecy is only coming to fruition now."

"What is the prophecy about?" Sakura demanded, "I've heard of it but it doesn't make sense... all this talk of shadows and the world being engulfed..."

Kerberos sighed.

"Perhaps we should start at the beginning," he sighed.

The mist around them began to swirl as an invisible breeze swept through Sakura's hair.

"What's going on... wha..." Sakura didn't even have time to finish her sentence as a bright white light illuminated the area eliciting a surprised scream from the Angel. When the light finally faded, she was gone.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Good morning, Angels."

"Good morning, Syaoran!" Tomoyo chirped as Meiling mumbled her greeting.

"It's great to hear from you girls again," Syaoran said warmly, "Have you got the book?"

"Right here," Tomoyo replied cheerfully patting the velvet wrapped package on her lap.

"Good keep it safe," Syaoran ordered, "I suppose the first book is still hidden."

"We've got it hidden in a secure location," Meiling assured him.

There was a slight pause as Syaoran fell silent.

"Where's Sakura?" he asked, "She's there isn't she?"

"Ummm..." Tomoyo and Meiling blinked at each other.

"An emergency came up. She had to leave town for a couple of days," Tomoyo explained.

"Oh," Syaoran murmured.

He took a deep breath.

"Anyway, I've put everybody at my disposal to help me research the third book. I've also drained all my sources..." Syaoran sighed.

"You haven't find it?" Meiling asked with a sigh of her own.

"No."

"Damn," Meiling hissed, "We've got two out of three and the third one is nowhere to be find!"

"And we still don't know why Spinnel wants them," Tomoyo pointed out wisely.

"Pfft.." Meiling snorted, "They want it cause the books are worth a lot of money on the black market. Do you need any other reason?"

"I suppose," Tomoyo said slowly stilled troubled.

"Angels," Syaoran said gently breaking into their conversation, "Unless you have further information about the third book, I've got no more missions or news to give you."

"We've got nothing," Meiling replied.

"Okay, goodbye Angels."

"Goodbye Syaoran."

As the on light of the speaker went dull, the two Angels sighed.

"Guess it's time to hit the books," Meiling groaned.

Tomoyo nodded and the two Angels began researching.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"What?!" Sakura finished her sentence and looked around slowly as she realised she was no longer standing in the mist-filled limbo.

"Whoa..." a small gasp of astonishment escaped her lips as she stared at what was standing right in front of her.

It was a palace made out of intricately carved blocks of stones shaped into walls and column, some of which were painted a rich crimson that matched the bright gold of the slanting roofs. An immense stonewall stood guard at the perimeter of the palace encompassing a vast garden filled with bright flowers and spectacular water features that threw water into the air.

"Where am I?" Sakura murmured looking around.

"The year is 1225 BC and this is Anyang, the capital of the Shang Dynasty" Kerberos's rough voice spoke into her mind.

"Kerberos?!" Sakura gasped looking around, "Where are you? What's going on?"

"I've sent you back in time to see how the prophecy and the books came to be. But be warned, you are just merely a watcher in these events. To them you are invisible" Kerberos explained, "Watch carefully because you'll learn everything you need to know"

Sakura whirled around and saw a tall man dressed in richly embroidered clothing walking calmly up the path towards her. Even though Kerberos had told her she was invisible to them, she leapt off the path just in case. As the man walked past, she caught sight of a pair of serene blue eyes and long purple-blue hair that was pulled into a braided tail.

"Who's that?" she whispered.

"Clow Reed," Kerberos's voice took on the tone of reverence and respect, "The creator of the clow cards and consequently the books, the key and me"

"He created all of those things?!" Sakura gasped astonished.

Then something occurred to her.

"Cards?!"

"Hush!" Kerberos growled "Watch!"

The man that Kerberos had named Clow Reed now appeared to be talking to another man.

"Who's that?" Sakura asked curiously studying the dark-haired man.

"Heilang" Kerberos practically spat out the name.

"Who?"

"Clow Reed is in service of the Emperor as a healer. Heilang previously held the role but when Clow Reed healed the Emperor of a disease that nobody could, Heilang was cast from his position and the job was given to my master" Kerberos explained.

Sakura sneaked up to the two men who were talking animatedly but both spoke in a form of ancient Chinese that Sakura didn't understand at all.

"Heilang is accusing Clow Reed of dabbling in the dark arts, which Clow Reed denies saying what he is practising is not a 'dark art' at all" Kerberos told Sakura giving her a running commentary on what was happening.

Clow Reed broke away from the man and walked off as Heilang yelled angrily after him, his face as dark as raging thundercloud. Sakura followed the purple-blue haired man as he entered the palace and walked briskly down a hallway. Unlocking a door, he stepped into the room as Sakura hurried in behind him.

As he closed the door, Sakura quickly looked around. It was like so kind of ancient laboratory filled with glass containers of all sorts containing exotic looking substances. Clow Reed gestured at the unlit fireplace and the logs sitting inside suddenly burst into flames.

"Whoa!" Sakura gasped amazed.

Clow Reed sat down at a cluttered desk and began writing upon a series of long strips of dried bamboo using a traditional Chinese styled brush. Gracefully his nimble fingers manipulated the brush as he wrote his eyes narrowed in concentration. Halfway through a sentence he suddenly froze. Sitting up and straightening his back, he frowned as he turned his head towards the open window. The sky outside was suddenly turning a dark grey as thunder rumbled distantly. Clow Reed closed his eyes and several seconds later; he got up and dashed for his door. Flinging his door open he darted into hallway and sprinted down it as Sakura struggled to follow.

Racing out of one of the doors, Clow Reed rushed in an open courtyard. The sky outside seemed to turn even darker as the rumbling of the thunder got louder and louder. Suddenly Clow Reed flung his arms open and yelled something in a language that sounded like nothing Sakura had ever heard before.

The sky roared as lightning flashed. Suddenly a massive bolt of thunder lanced down from the skies and struck the paved ground causing splinters of broken and charred rock to fly into the air. To his credit, Clow Reed stood there calmly as the bolt of lightning faded revealing a snarling creature.

Sakura stared at the monster, it looked like some kind of tiger/wolf hybrid except it was a bright blue and its eyes were a burning white. It roared at Clow Reed as bolts of lightning crashed down fro the skies.

Clow Reed merely held out his hands as the bolts of lightning seem to hit an invisible barrier and fizzled out to harmless sparks. The monster roared in fury and lunged at Clow Reed.

The man barked out another word in the language he had spoke before to summon the beast and a massive ball of fire suddenly gathered in his hands. He hurled it straight at the monster catching it in the chest as it flew backwards the ball of fire throwing it across the courtyard. It crashed into the wall of another building causing a massive dent in the wood and stone structure as Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

"Kerberos?" she whimpered.

"Don't talk!" Kerberos commanded, "WATCH!"

The beast summoned more bolts of lightning from the skies but Clow Reed leapt nimbly to the side as the bolts crashed into ground creating smoking craters in the rock. Clow Reed hurled another immense ball of fire at the beast and smiled in satisfaction as the creature screamed in pain.

Suddenly he held his hands out and muttered something under his breath as his eyes began glowing a bright gold. The same coloured light surrounded the downed creature as Sakura watched in astonishment. Clow Reed yelled someday and the lightning beast seemed to fold in on itself, the gold light glowing brighter and brighter.

With a final brilliant flash that blinded even Sakura, the light faded as the dark skies overhead cleared instantly. Clow Reed calmly held out his hands as some glowing object flew into his hands.

Sakura studied the object closely and saw that it was a card of some kind. Clow Reed held it up as the glowing faded; he smiled in satisfaction and tucked the card into his pocket as he waved his hands around. Bright azure blue light burst from his fingertips and washed over the courtyard. The smoking craters the wild bolts of lightning had caused and the dent in the building caused by beast disappeared completely as Clow Reed smiled and turned back to walk away.

"This story does not end here" Kerberos informed her, "Come"

"Kerberos, what was that?!" Sakura demanded as she felt her body being yanked by an invisible force back to Clow Reed's room.

Stopping in front of his room, Sakura gaped seeing the man, Heilang rummaging around in Clow Reed's desk.

"Kerberos?" Sakura asked as Heilang grabbed a bundle of bamboo strips with ink writing on them and laughed in triumph.

Hurriedly he stuffed the strips in his clothing before dashing out the door.

"Kerberos?" Sakura repeated.

"That creature was a Clow Spirit" Kerberos explained "Clow Reed is a powerful mage but his speciality is creating magical beings. When he was younger and less experience with life, he managed to create manifestations of various aspects of nature. He called these manifestations Clow Spirit but the spirits were mischievous and very powerful and eventually Clow Reed lost control of them and they began harassing Anyang and other surrounding cities but Clow Reed eventually learned that he could control these spirits by imprisoning them into cards so slowly one by one he confronted the spirits capturing more and more of them into cards."

"What about Heilang, what did he steal?" Sakura asked.

"Heilang was jealous of Clow Reed and one day managed to sneak into Clow Reed's room and stole his notes concerning the creation of the Clow Spirits," Kerberos's voice turned grim, "He tried to create his own spirits... with disastrous results."

"What happened?" Sakura whispered chills running down her spine at Kerberos's foreboding words.

Rather than hearing an answer from the guardian beast Sakura felt the familiar sensation of being teleported away as bright light surrounded her body.

She sighed as she realized what was happening.

"Here we go again..." she moaned.

And with that she disappeared.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Anything?"

"Nothing."

"Arrghhhh!!" Meiling let out a small cry of frustration and hurled her book onto the desk.

The two Angels had dug up every book they could get their hands on about anything to do with Chinese history but none of the books no matter how much they looked had anything remotely to do with the three books. Tomoyo wearily stretched her arms and casually looked at the clock. Realising the time she freaked.

"Oh my god!" she yelled shooting up onto her feet, "I'm going to be late!!"

Meiling looked at her curiously.

"Late for what?"

Tomoyo blushed and started to mumble something under her breath.

"Tomoyo," Meiling prodded, "Hello?"

"Fine," Tomoyo sighed, "I've got a date."

Meiling smiled wickedly at her.

"With who may I ask?" she asked innocently.

"You spill dirt on your date and I'll spill my," Tomoyo zipped back as she began packing the books away, "Hurry up, I want to go home and change."

The Asian Angel stood up as well and began stacking the books up.

"Just leave them like this for tonight," she suggested, "We'll probably need them for tomorrow."

Tomoyo nodded and soon they were walking out of the front door of their headquarters.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"You know you really should warn someone before you teleport them aw..." Sakura's jaw dropped in shock as she studied her new surroundings.

She had been teleported away from the magnificent palace of 1225 BC Anyang and into a war zone. The buildings surrounding her were all blackened as though fire had swept over them; the ground was broken and cracked with no hint of paving to be seen at all. The sky above was ominous black and the few plant life that was around was all wizened as though stricken by some kind of mysterious disease. People huddling into badly damaged buildings protected themselves from their elements as best as they could as winds howled and raged against the already battered structures sweeping away handfuls of dirt into the air and flinging them into the faces of the already besieged people.

"What..." Sakura trailed off, "Where am I?"

"Anyang" Kerberos replied.

"What?! This is Anyang but the palace, where is it?" Sakura asked looking around.

An invisible force gently grabbed Sakura's head and turned it so she was staring at a blackened stonewall that shot up from the broken ground standing alone admit the ruin of Anyang like solitary guard.

"That is all that remains of the palace of Anyang"

"What happened?" Sakura whispered.

"The year is 1227 BC, two years of the fateful day in which Heilang stole the notes from Clow Reed. For a whole year, Heilang dabbled in the dark arts trying to recreate what Clow Reed had done with ease. To create his own manifestation of natures, to create his own Clow Spirits but Heilang's soul was corrupted and he schemed to create a spirit so powerful, so destructive, so deadly that not even Clow Reed's cards could stand up against the monster he hoped to create..." Kerberos's voice trailed off and when he spoke again it was filled the barely suppressed fury, "And he succeeded. His Clow Spirit was a creature born from lies, deceit, corruption and hatred. Heilang lived long enough to see what he had wrought with his own hands. He saw the falling of Anyang palace and the destruction of much of its people until he died at the very hands of what he created..."

"What did he create?" Sakura demanded.

"That"

Once again a gentle invisible force made Sakura look to her left and she gasped at what she saw. An immense ball of crackling black energy hovered above the earth as Sakura watched in horror long tendrils of burning energy shot out from the ball and whipped the earth leaving burning trenches in its wake. The people screamed in panic and began to flee as the energy ball drew closer and closer.

Suddenly Sakura could see that the ball was semi-transparent and through the shroud of energy Sakura could see something moving within the destructive sphere of power. Sakura could see a pair of melancholy purple eyes and long curly ash brown hair that fluttered in an invisible breeze. And finally she the owner of those eyes and hair: a young girl dressed in a light blue and purple dress with, most strangely of all, a pair of long white wings sprouted from her head which were now flapping frantically as though they were trying to take flight, Sakura watched in horrified fascination as the young girl inside the sphere held out her hands and said something under her breath. A massive blast of black energy burst from the bubble of energy surrounding her, obliterating everything in its path.

"What is that?" Sakura managed to whisper.

"That is the Void card"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Eriol was silent as he drove to Tomoyo Daidouji's house. He still didn't know what had prompted him to ring her up and invite her onto a date. For crying out loud, he was an assassin! And he was supposed to kill her not date her!

But somewhere, somehow along the way, she had wormed her way into his heart.

Well, it stops tonight Eriol thought grimly.

Marcus Ruflac had rung him up again and told Eriol flatly if he did not kill the Angels within a week their deal was off. And if anybody ever fined out that Eriol failed to kill one of his quarries, he was finished in the assassin world. His reputation would be in tatters and nobody would ever hire him again. And if nobody ever hired him again...

Eriol sighed in frustration as he got out of his car and began walking towards Tomoyo's front door.

Damn it! He was supposed to be an assassin! He had to kill Tomoyo Daidouji sooner or later.

He just had to keep reminding himself of that.

He just had to.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Mallus Harrason gritted his teeth as he remembered how the Angels had duped him out of the pathetic fool of a man, Marcus Flaron. But he will have his revenge, oh how he would have his revenge.

It had taken him several weeks to assemble the most deadliest team of mercenaries and assassins money could buy and it had taken him another week along to track down the Angel's home but now his plans were coming to fruition.

"Mr. Harrason?" a small voice reminded him.

"Continue," Mallus snapped.

The small scrawny weasel of a man standing before him bowed repeatedly as he fought to keep his voice steady.

"Your intel was correct. Marcus and his daughter is now staying at one of the Angel's house," the man stuttered.

Mallus nodded.

"Good, send in the team. If you don't have Marcus and his daughter with you when you come back..." Mallus trailed off letting the threat hang in the air.

The man gulped.

"Yes, sir," he managed to stammer.

And with that he scurried away as fast as his thin legs could take him.

"Really dear," a feminine voice drawled from the shadows, "Is this necessary?"

"Shut up," Mallus spat at his blonde-haired wife.

The beautiful emerald-eyed woman laughed as she sashayed towards her husband.

"Awww..." she cooed, "Poor Mr. Mallus allows a bunch of little girls to steal away with his prey. Oh boohoo baby."

"If you want that diamond necklace you've been bugging me about, you better shut the hell up," Mallus snarled viciously.

To her credit his wife didn't even blink instead she let out a long melodious laugh.

"Don't worry your little bald head about that," his wife smirked, "I'll just get my latest lover to get it for me."

And with that she strolled away as Mallus glared after her.

"I have to kill her someday," he growled as he turned back to his plan.

"You wish," his wife called scornfully from the shadows, "You couldn't kill a fly with that scrawny, bony bodies of yours."

Mallus gritted his teeth.

His wife always had to have the last say.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Tomoyo opened the door and beamed at Eriol had stood there looking dashing in a dark-coloured suit.

"You look beautiful," he whispered as Tomoyo closed the door behind her.

Tomoyo blushed.

"Thank you," she said charmingly, "You don't look bad yourself."

Eriol chuckled.

"I'm glad you approve."

As Eriol lead Tomoyo to his car, he made a decision.

He was going to kill her.

He had to kill her.

It was either his job or her.

Eriol had finally made up his mind.

Tomoyo would die.

Tonight.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Hahaha!! Multiple cliffhangers! Am I evil or what? Well at least the history of the three books have been partly told, the rest is still to come.

Next chapter:

As Sakura delves further into past, she finally discovers the reason behind the creation of the books and why Spinnel wants them however she is not the only one in danger. Tomoyo is on a date with Eriol as he tried to kill her off once and for all and for Meiling she would have to make a heart-wrenching decision as the four Elemental Clow Spirits pay her a visit. What does the Elementals want? And what dilemma now faces Sakura? Find out in... _Last one standing_

A/Note: This is probably the last update for a little while because school starts again for me and then its homework, homework, homework. Sigh... So sorry if there is a delay between now and the next update.

And please, please REVIEW!

And just as a warning, the next several chapters will contain a lot of the Clow Cards and magic so... if you don't like magic. Don't read (but since CCS is all about magic it really shouldn't bother anyone... I hope...)

And finally, the butterfly that visited Tomoyo to give her the dream was of course... the Dream card. The woman in her dreams was the Flower and the monster that Clow Reed faced was the Thunder card.

And when you review, please, please, please tell me what your fav. chapter is!


	21. Last one standing

Thanks for all your lovely reviews! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! PLEASE KEEP IT UP!  
I WILL NOT REVIEW WITHOUT UNLESS I HAVE ANOTHER NEW REVIEWS!

Disclaimer: read the other chapters for disclaimer

Syaoran's Angels

**Chapter 20: Last one standing**

"Void card?" Sakura murmured staring at the destructive ball of energy that ripped the city apart building by building.

"The dark card, the corrupted card... the evil card" Kerberos growled inside her mind.

She watched with disbelieving eyes as a huge wave of dark energy soared into the air before crashing down onto a group of buildings like a raging tsunami.

"Oh, my god," Sakura gasped.

Suddenly the sphere of black energy stopped its slow advancement on the already ravaged city. It seemed to pause as Sakura frowned in confusion.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

"Watch" Kerberos murmured softly in her mind.

With a huge explosion, burning tendrils of energy lashed out from the ball heading towards somewhere to the left of Sakura. The American Angel turned around in time to see the energy crash in on one area causing a massive explosion. Concussive waves rippled out from the impact site causing some of the buildings nearby to collapse.

"Holy..." Sakura whimpered staring at the damage the Void card had created.

Suddenly from the smoking crater the attack had created came a massive ball of blue flames that crashed into the side of the Void card's protective sphere. The fire fizzled out as it slammed into the black energy. The Void card turned around slowly inside its sphere and gestured wildly with her hands.

More lances of black energy shot forwards but this time from somewhere within the crater a sparkling barrier of blue energy appeared from thin air. The energy crashed into the barrier as it flickered for a few precarious seconds before throwing the black energy away back straight at the Void card. The black energy was absorbed back into the sphere as the Void spirit frowned.

"What the?!' Sakura gasped watching the events unfold.

From the black smoke pouring out from the crater, a man emerged dressed in a long dark blue robe. The Void's eyes widened in shock as it recognised the man.

So did Sakura.

"Clow Reed!" she exclaimed as the Void glared at the mage.

More bolts of black energy crashed down onto the mage but Clow Reed merely dispersed them with a wave of his hands.

"What's going on?" Sakura whispered watching the fight intently.

"Clow Reed has finally gained the power he needs to seal the Void" Kerberos answered back, "This is the final fight"

The Void charged straight at Clow Reed, tendrils of energy firing out in all directions burning and razing everything in its path. Clow Reed held out his hand and barked something cause another long stream of blue flame to lash the Void's protective bubble. The Void, this time grimaced in pain as some of the powerful flames managed to pierce the energy and wound the spirit itself but it retaliated with a devastating wave of energy that hurled Clow Reed off his feet.

He staggered to his feet and yelled out something in that ancient language that Sakura had heard before and this time a powerful breeze swept through the air as opaque cream-coloured ribbons burst from Clow Reed's hands and ensnared the Void card. The card struggled in the grasp of the ribbons as Clow Reed gestured causing the ribbons to tightened around the malevolent spirit. With a cry of pain and fury the Void card unleashed a powerful blast of the energy that shredded the ribbons as Clow Reed let out a scream of pain and keeled over clutching his stomach. The Void spirit laughed as she pointed at Clow Reed a delicate sneer adorning her young face.

"Shui!" Clow Reed yelled fighting back the pains.

The smile was wiped from the Void's face as an immense wave of water appeared from thin air pounding the card with something akin to a rampant tsunami. The Void card shuddered violently but with one wave of her hand a net of crackling dark energy captured the gushing waves and hurled it straight back at Clow Reed. The powerful mage dispersed the attack with a single wave of his hand.

The Void blasted another wave of black energy at the mage as he jumped nimbly back as the energy crashed into the ground creating a massive smoking trench in the solid ground. The card fired a series of small darts of dark energy at the mage, each burst creating a smoking hole in the earth as Clow Reed raced to dodge the attacks.

Clow Reed bellowed something creating a sparkling blue barrier in front of him; the darts slammed into the shield and fizzled out as Clow Reed smiled in satisfaction. He then raised his hands and yelled something again.

"JIAN!"

Bright light burst from his hands as the Void looked on in horror. The light warped and shifted changing shape and growing as Clow Reed clutched the suddenly tangible light until it finally faded revealing a semi-transparent bow and a quiver of blue arrows.

"What's he doin..." Sakura gasped as Clow Reed plucked an arrow from the quiver and held it aloft as the Void card attacked in desperation throwing wave after wave of dark energy at the mage only to have the barrier absorb and deflect its attack.

"GUANG!" Clow Reed called as the dark clouds above suddenly shifted creating a small hole from which a long stream of brilliant golden light poured down from the skies and struck the arrow filling the wood and metal with glimmering energy. Clow Reed waited a few more seconds until it seemed he was clutching a newborn star in his hands. Lifting the ghostly bow, he fitted the arrow, sighted and fired.

The energy-charged arrow punched through his glowing blue barrier as the Void unleashed an engulfing wave of dark energy that devoured the earth on which it travelled. The arrow sliced through the energy and shattered the sphere of darkness protecting the card before the Void could react the glowing weapon slammed into her chest as she stared down at her gaping wound in horror.

She looked up at Clow Reed with shock violet eyes as the rest of its dark sphere flickered struggling to stay around its mistress before disappearing altogether.

Clow Reed held out his hands and called out something in an ancient language that caused the earth beneath to tremble and the clouds above to roar with unborn thunder.

"What is he saying?" Sakura asked as the Void card cried out in horror and pain.

"Roughly translated it means, 'I, Clow Reed, master of the cards command you. Return to your power confined'" Kerberos murmured.

Bright light burst from Clow Reed's hands and washed over the Void as it let out one last pitiful cry before the light devoured its body. Sakura had to look away as the light threatened to blind her incorporeal eyes. When the glowing finally faded she looked back in time to see Clow Reed hold a glowing card in his outstretched hands.

"The Void cards is sealed" Kerberos said ominously, "And the creation of the books begin"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Meiling gently closed the door and stifled a yawn as she made her way to the brightly lit living room where she could see the top of Marcus's head over the top of the couch.

"She's asleep," she reported to Marcus who smiled his thanks.

"It's about time she got to bed before nine," Marcus noted as Meiling laughed and walked over to the couch and casually vaulted over headrest to land lightly beside Marcus.

"You can't blame her," she said impishly grinning at him, "Lily's still excited about having three new aunts to spoil her."

"She's not the only one," Marcus smirked smiling flirtatiously at her.

"Hmm... what do you mean?" Meiling asked blinking innocently.

Marcus kissed her passionately as Meiling sighed against his lips.

"Mmmmm..." Meiling sighed contently then groaned in disappointment as Marcus pulled away.

"I love you," he said softly.

"Ditto," Meiling whispered leaning forwards again, "I love you too."

They kissed again as Marcus wrapped his arms around her hugging her tightly to him. Meiling smiled against his lips as she wondered how on earth someone like him could fall in love with someone like her... She shoved those thoughts out of her head instead just allowing herself to simply enjoy this romantic moment.

Suddenly with no warning at all, a high-pitched scream pierced the air as both adults jumped at the unexpected sound.

They broke off the kiss as Meiling and Marcus looked around in confusion.

"LILY!" Marcus yelled suddenly as she screamed again in the bedroom she was supposedly sleeping in.

With out another word, both of them jumped up and raced to the little girl's bedroom.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Tomoyo smiled politely at the waiter who gave her a charming smile in return before departing. The Japanese Angel allowed her eyes to wander around the candlelit surroundings of the expensive French restaurant Eriol had taken her to before turning back to her date. She couldn't help the burst into laughter as she noticed the sour look on his face.

"What?" Eriol demanded, "What's so funny?"

"You," Tomoyo sniggered.

Eriol blinked at her in confusion as Tomoyo fought to keep herself from bursting into laughter again.

"You're jealous," she said with a sly smile.

"Me?" Eriol asked surprised, "Why would I be jealous?"

Tomoyo batted her eyelids.

"Hmm..." Tomoyo pretended to think, "Would it have anything to do with a certain cute waiter that must flirted with me?"

"You think his cute?!" Eriol spluttered.

Tomoyo could help it. She burst into laughter again as Eriol flushed realising what he had just done.

"Sorry," Tomoyo gasped.

"Don't be," Eriol reassured, "But I'm much cute than that waiter."

"True," Tomoyo acknowledged as she sipped her champagne.

Eriol smiled warmly at her as he sipped from his glass as well. He studied his 'date' who looked ravishing in a tight fitting purple dress that highlighted her beautiful lavender eyes, which were now shining with laughter. Suddenly he felt a tight feeling in his chest as he realised he would have to kill this beautiful woman.

What was wrong with him?

He never felt this way before, never ever in all the time he had been an assassin had he ever reacted so violently at the idea of killing someone. He took a deep breath and looked up to stare in Tomoyo's worried eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked concerned.

Eriol pasted a charming smile on his face as he reassured her.

"I'm fine."

As Tomoyo's worried look slipped off her face, Eriol took a deep breath and felt for the tiny vial of poison tucked into his pants pocket. Clutching the tiny glass vial tightly, he let out his breath in one long sigh and waited patiently for an opportunity to present itself and all the while Tomoyo chatted on unaware of the fact that she was dating the enemy.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Bright light claimed Sakura's body as the bleak surroundings of the ravaged city of Anyang faded away.

She blinked in confusion as she looked around. She was back in the mist-filled realm of the limbo.

"Kerberos?" she asked tentatively.

"I'm here," Kerberos's voice rumbled through the limbo as a ball of golden light appeared before her.

The ball expanded and began warping shape as the distinct outlines of a feline body and long bird-like wings began taking form before her. The light faded as a pair of intelligent amber eyes stared back at her.

"Is that all?" Sakura demanded, "Cause that was kinda anticlimactic."

Kerberos snorted as the red gem embedded in the centre of his metal helmet glowed brightly.

"My role in the telling of this story is over," Kerberos informed her, "Somebody else is taking over."

"The Ghost of Christmas Present?" Sakura guessed.

Kerberos glared at her as another ball of light appeared before them. Sakura was forced to look away as the bright white light intensified becoming so powerful that it gave off giant waves of shimmering heat. Like before with Kerberos, the sphere of light began changing shape right in front of Sakura's eyes as the glowing faded.

A tall woman with long tresses of white glowing hair stood before her, a small mysterious smile decorating her creamy face. A golden crown rested in her hair as Sakura's eyes travelled down the length of the woman's body taking in the white and gold flowing dress that encased her body.

"Who is this?" Sakura asked.

"I am the Light card," the woman replied, "One of the most powerful of the Clow Spirits."

"Okay..." Sakura muttered, "Want to elaborate."

The woman laughed, her voice soft and musical.

"You have fire," the Light card noted, "that will serve you well."

Before Sakura could reply, the Light card gestured causing a ball of burning white light to appear in front of her. The Light gestured again and the ball of expanded to create a window of glowing light. Through it, Sakura could see images moving around inside the light.

"After the Void was sealed, Clow Reed knew he could not keep the card trapped forever," the Light began her voice filled with sorrow, "But one day whilst scrying, he saw something."

A picture appeared in the window of light as Sakura gasped seeing Clow Reed bent over a pool of water.

"He saw that one day in the distant future, three girls chosen by fate would be the only ones who would have any hope of destroying the Void card," the Light explained, "In his visions he saw the many perils that faced these girls and he knew that he had to aid them in someway thus the books were created."

Sakura watched fascinated as the image of the three books appeared in the light. One was the book they had take from the Paris Museum and the other was the Book of the Hong Bao Shi Hu Die. The third... Sakura sucked in her breath as the studied the light blue cover of the third book, her eyes rested on the silver stamped into the leather of the book the metal twisted together to form the visage of a winged angel.

"The book of Yue Gong Jian Shou," Sakura whispered looking at third book in awe.

"Yes," the Light said softly as the light rippled and the images disappeared, "Clow Reed foresaw the creation of the books and knew that one day the three chosen would wield his cards and their powers would combine together to destroy the Void. To ensure the Void would remain trapped until its destruction, he crafted a fourth book. The book of the Hei Lang, designed to trap the Void until the time came for the three chosen to wield the cards."

Sakura gaped at the next image that appeared in the light. A black leather book appeared strands of dark grey metal and black glowing rocks was embedded into the black leather creating the image of a snarling wolf that glared at her with malicious eyes.

"Obsidian..." Sakura whispered recognising the rocks that decorated the cover.

"The Void was placed into the book of the Hei Lang," the Light continued, "And into the other three books he placed the other cards. For the Book of Fei Lao Shi, he placed the Clow cards that were tied to the light, to metal and to the sky. For the Book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die, the cards of the earth were placed and finally the cards belonging to the spiritual and dream realm were kept in the Book of Yue Gong Jian Shou. For each book he created a guardian. He entrusted the guardian with the safe keeping of the books until the time came for the chosen to find them and use the cards within."

Sakura stared at the card as she tried to absorb everything she was being told.

"Wait..." she paused as she realised something, "If they were supposed to be kept safely how come the Book of Fei Lao Shi ended up in that museum."

The Light smiled.

"Because its guardian, Kerberos took a nap."  
"A short nap," Kerberos growled.

"That lasted thirty years," the Light finished off, "But eventually you stumbled upon it so it all ended well in the end."

"What about the talismans?" Sakura demanded, "What are they?"

The Light took a deep breath.

"The cards cannot be wielded by anyone unless that person have spent decades training in the arts of magic. But Clow Reed created the talismans, which were designed tap into the magic of the cards and allow the chosen ones to wield the cards with ease," the Light explained, "Only with the book, the talismans and the right words can one wield the power of the cards. According to Clow Reed, each of the three girls will possess one of the books and one of the talismans giving them powers over the sky, the elements or the powers of the dreamscape."

"Okay..." Sakura said slowly, "Because I have the key and I was the one to take the book from the museum, I'm guessing I'm supposed to wield the cards in the Book of Fei Lao Shi?"

The Light nodded.

"The Flower is to have the Book of Fei Lao Shi, the Fighter is supposed to have the Book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die and the Fox is supposed to wield the power of the Book of Yue Gong Jian Shou," The Light confirmed.

"Sooo... Meiling is supposed to have the elements and Tomoyo the other cards," Sakura blinked, "That's great to know... where is the other book?"

The Light sighed.

"We do not know but we know the Yue, the guardian of the book, hid it well and that the talisman of the book, which is the mirror would lead the Fox to the hiding place of the third book."

"Okay..." Sakura pursed her lips, "Where is the mirror?"

The Light shrugged delicately.

"The sword, which is the talisman of the second book is supposed to help find the mirror."

"Great, where the hell is the sword?!" Sakura demanded getting frustration.

The Light smiled.

"Ruby Moon, the guardian of the second book also hid the talisman but she isn't as cryptic as Yue. She left us a clue."  
"What was it?" Sakura asked eagerly.

The Clow card cleared her throat before speaking in her usual soft, melodious voice.

"Under ice, over fire."

Sakura stared at her.

"That's it?" she spluttered, "If that's not cryptic I hate to see what Yue is like."

The Light shrugged again.

"I wasn't the one to come up with it."

Sakura sighed.

"Oh great," she muttered, "Cryptic clues. Just great..."

"And now," the Light said gently breaking into her tirade, "It's time for you to wield the power of cards."

"What?!"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Lily?" Meiling yelled as she threw the door open.

The little girl was sitting in the middle of her bed, her bright blue eyes wide with fear.

"Lily?" Meiling repeated more gently as she and Marcus moved towards the little girl who stared at them with terror in her eyes.

"He was here," she whispered her voice filled with tears, "The bad man."

"Bad man?" Marcus repeated, "Who..."

Meiling's eyes widened in shock as red point of light appeared on Marcus's chest.

"DOWN!" she yelled pushing him and Lily down as the window shattered.

A metal bullet shrieked through the air narrowly missing Marcus as it slammed into the wall creating a gaping hole in the plasterboards.

"God damn it!" Meiling yelled, "Come on!"

She yanked Marcus up as the man scooped up his daughter and they fled out of the door as more bullets ripped through the window.

Lily clutched her father's arm tightly as soft whimpers escaped from her throat as both Marcus and Meiling stumbled towards the living room.

"Who are they?" Marcus asked.

Meiling shook her head.

"I don't know," she whispered back, "But they're obviously after you or Lily."

Her eyes widened with shock as she realised what she had just said. Hatred caused Marcus's eyes to burn with demonic light as he gritted his teeth tightly.

"Mallus," he spat as Meiling briefly wondered how it would feel to have that man's scrawny neck in between her fists.

"We have to get you out of here," Meiling decided as she raced to the front door flinging it open.

Her jaws dropped in shock as she stared at the various dark-coloured vans that were parked on Tomoyo's impeccable front lawn and the street running past down the house. Her sharp eyes caught movements in the shadows as Meiling threw herself onto the ground.

And just in time.

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

At least a dozen guns went off as holes began riddling Tomoyo's expensive mahogany front door.

"Okay, so we can't get out that way," Meiling gasped as she crawled back to the living room careful to keep her head down as more bullets shot past overhead.

"What's going on?" Marcus demanded as he hugged his daughter to him.

"We're trapped," Meiling said grimly as she jumped up, "We'll have to fight our way out."

Before Marcus could reply, the kitchen window shattered as something round and black sailed in through the broken glass.

"Holy..." Meiling swore as she shoved Marcus away before springing away herself.

The grenade exploded, the concussive waves shoving Meiling violently away as all the windows in the living room shattered glittering chips of glass cascading to the ground as Marcus struggled to protect his daughter from the flying debris.

"Meiling?" he called as Lily echoed his concern, "You okay?"

"I'm fine..." Meiling groaned as she struggled to stand up, "I think."

"We can't stay in here, it's too dangerous," Marcus said worriedly.

Meiling nodded as she slowly flexed her arms trying to get rid of the tingling numbness in them.

"Man, these guys are determined," Meiling muttered as she blinked to clear her fuzzy vision.

Marcus nodded as the three of them ran from the living room and into the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

"Go into the laundry," Meiling instructed, "There's no windows there and it's the furthest from any entrances into the house. Hurry!"

Marcus looked at her worriedly as Meiling smiled, touched at his concern.

"I'll live," she reassured him, "Now go!"

Lily clung to her father as he nodded before leaning over and giving her a short sweet kiss.

"Be careful," he warned.

Meiling smiled nodded before giving him a gentle shove towards the general direction of the laundry. Marcus departed deeper into the house as Meiling took a deep breath and steeled herself for a lengthy battle.

"Ready or not..." Meiling called allowing a wicked smile to appear on her face, "Here I come!"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Oh please, since when did you become a food critic?" Tomoyo teased as Eriol grinned back at her.

"I'm just saying I've tasted better," Eriol sniffed, "I paid good money for this!"

Tomoyo laughed.

"Oh great, I'm dating a cheapskate," she muttered with mock horror.

Eriol pretended to glare at her.

"I'm not a cheapskate," he retorted, "Just tasteful."

"I'll be the judge of that," Tomoyo teased as the two of them dissolved into laughter.

As their laughter died down, Tomoyo glanced at Eriol and couldn't help but think how handsome he was especially in the exquisite designer label suit he was wearing. Those intensive dark eyes...

Tomoyo sighed dreamily.

"Something wrong?" Eriol asked staring at her worriedly.

"Nothing," Tomoyo reassured him.

Eriol grinned at her warmly as Tomoyo's eyes were drawn towards his lips as she remembered how they felt on hers.

Maybe he is the one... Tomoyo thought dreamily.

As Tomoyo smiled back at him, all her hell broke loose inside her house.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Meiling rolled her eyes as the man who had just burst in through the front door unleashed a series of stylish punches and kicks in the air trying to intimidate her with his fierce warcry.

"Oh please..." she drawled as she elbowed her in the face before throwing him into the wall, "Is this all you've got?"

His head smacked into the hard wall as he slumped to ground, out cold. Meiling's sensitive ears picked up the sound of glass being crushed underfoot as she ran back to living room in time to see a veritable army of heavily armed thugs slide in through the broken windows.

"What is this?" Meiling muttered, "Gangster central?"

She charged straight at one thug and nimbly ducked the wild right hook that whooshed past overhead as she landed a solid uppercut to the thug's many chins. His head snapped painfully backwards as he let out a painful gasp before toppling over backwards. Meiling jumped down onto the ground and like an expert gymnast supported her weight on her arms as she whipped her legs catching one of thugs in the knee sending him crashing to the ground. Jumping up she sent another intruder flying with a powerful snap-kick to the chest.

"CRACK!" her vision went grey as one of thugs charged forwards managing to penetrate her defences and land a painful head-butted to face causing her to stumble backwards.

"Son of a..." she swore as she held her throbbing nose with one hand before dispatching the thug who attacked her with a spin kick to the groin.

He keeled over in pain as Meiling smiled at him sympathetically.

"Well, guess you won't have any kids," she smirked as she kicked him in the face.

Her ruby eyes widened in shock as she saw one of the intruders standing at the window level an assault rifle at her.

"Damn," she cursed as she whirled around and raced towards the kitchen.

Nimbly vaulting over the counter, she hit the ground just as the thug pulled the trigger. Tomoyo's expensive marble countertop exploded as bullets slammed into it spraying the air with dust and shattered marble.

"This sucks," Meiling muttered as she crawled on her stomach over to one of the cabinets lining the kitchen wall. Opening it, she discovered several metal platters lying inside smiling wickedly as she noted the moonlight that danced along its silver surface.

"Hmm... this could be useful," she noted as she grabbed one of them and waited for an opportunity to attack.

Suddenly the gun attack died down as the man began running out of bullets. With a triumphant cry, Meiling leapt up and flung the platter at him. The metal plate sliced through the air and slammed into the man's throat dislocating his windpipe as Meiling smiled in satisfaction.

"I've always loved Frisbee," she smirked.

She froze as Lily's piercing scream rended through the air.

"Lily!"

Before she could vault over the counter again more thugs poured in from the windows as gunshots could be heard from within the house. Meiling cursed violently as she yanked a drawer open revealing several sets of knives. With no warning at all, she hurled them straight at the thugs not really caring if they hit or not. Several of the thugs screamed in pain as the blades left bleeding cuts on their arms and faces as Meiling charged straight at them.

Grabbing one of the thugs, she kneed him in the face and hurled the dazed man straight into the rest of the pack creating confusion as several of them lost their balance and toppled over. Leaping gracefully over the fallen thugs, she dashed straight to the laundry as the distinct sounds of guns being cocked could be heard behind her.

She ducked into a room just in time as bullets raced down the hallway smashing into the walls and floor as the thugs began firing wildly.

"I don't have time for this," she growled as she considered her next move.

Meiling studied the room she was in. It was one of the spare bedrooms; Meiling's eyes fell onto the window as a plan began forming inside her head. Yanking the window open, she kicked the flyscreen out as she ducked out into the night air.

"Freeze!" a guttural voice growled as Meiling froze seeing the rings of cars that surrounded the house.

"Or what?" Meiling snapped back, "You'll spank me for being a bad girl and send me up to my room with no supper?"

The man roared in rage and fired as Meiling jump out of the way of the bullets. Rushing straight at the man, she slapped his gun out of the way causing him to fire into the air as she head-butted him before flipping him onto his back. A swift kick to the head finished him off as she grabbed his rifle.

"Thanks," she muttered as she ran off again.

Racing along the wall of the house she stopped when she reached another window leading into an ominously dark room. Using the butt of the gun she smashed the glass and crawled in through the window ignoring the bite of the broken glass against her skin as she landed onto the carpeted floor on the other side.

Striding forwards towards the door of the room, she opened it cautiously and peeked out. Seeing nobody was around, she dashed out of the wall and headed towards the laundry.

Reaching the door and hearing the yelling going on inside, Meiling hurled the door open and swung her rifle around clocking one of the thugs in the head. Another thug who had been menacing Marcus with his gun stared at her in surprise as she thrust the rifle into his stomach before following up with a vicious kick to his knee. He screamed in pain as she dislocated his kneecap. Ruthlessly ignoring the man Meiling turned to Marcus.

"We've got to get out of here," she yelled as Marcus nodded.

Lily remained silent as Meiling ran out of the door with Marcus closely following her, his daughter still clinging to his neck.

Concentrating on the task at head, Meiling was unaware that several thugs were hiding in one of the room until it was too late.

"MEILING!" Marcus yelled as the thugs surged out of the room crashing into the Angel.

She was pinned against the wall as she frantically fought back trying to defend herself as best as she could.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" she yelled as Marcus stood frozen to the spot, unsure of what to do.

One of the thugs aimed at her and prepared to pull the trigger as Marcus hurriedly dumped Lily onto the ground.

"Go hide!" he yelled as Lily scuttled into one of the rooms as her father leapt at the thugs.

"MARCUS! NO!" Meiling yelled, "GET OUT..."

The thug fired as Marcus shoved the man who was pinning Meiling to the wall away violently. Desperately trying to push Meiling away, he put himself into the line of fire.

"NO!"

A low gasp of pain escaped from his lips as the bullet slammed into his side.

"Marcus!" Meiling cried as crimson blossomed onto his shirt.

Marcus opened his mouth to speak but blood flooded into his mouth and spilt down his chin as he stared at Meiling with dim eyes.

"Go," he whispered as he toppled to the ground.

"MARCUS!" Meiling yelled, "YOU!"

She whirled onto the man who had fired the gun and leapt at him all thoughts of strategies and skills jumping out of her head as she attacked him with vicious power. Pushing him to the ground, she proceeded to load all of her fear and pain onto him beating him to a bloody pulp as in her fury she was unaware of the thugs sneaking up on her.

"CRACK!"

A rifle butt slammed into the side of her face and the last thing that Meiling was aware of was the evil smirk of the thug who had attacked her.

They had won.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Gripping the key that was still somehow with her in the limbo, Sakura closed her eyes and began chanting.

"Key of stars with powers burning bright, reveal the staff and shine your light," Sakura chanted repeating the words that the Light had told her, "RELEASE!"

A ball of light appeared around the key as it floated above her palm. It began spinning around crazily as the key began lengthening and changing colour as Sakura watched with fascination.

"Take it," Kerberos commanded as Sakura stared at the pink and gold staff that floated in the air before her.

Gingerly, she clasped the staff with shaking hands. Holding it aloft, she studied the so-called Star Wand admiring the strange runes that ran down the length of the staff. Twirling it above her like a baton, Sakura noted that it was almost weightless.

"Cool," she murmured.

"Now for the book," the Light stated, "Kerberos?"

The lion-like guardian growled under his breath as the gem on his head began glowing. Gold light burst from the ruby and gathered in the air above his head as Sakura watched. The light faded revealing the red-leather and gold decorations of the Book of Fei Lao Shi.

"My brothers and sisters, it is time," the Light commanded, "Come forth!"

The book burst open as its ancient pages fluttered in an invisible breeze, Sakura gaped at the book as the writings on the page began glowing brightly. The words vanished as glowing rectangular objects flew from the book as Sakura gasped in shock as they swirled around throwing gold light onto her face as the Light smiled.

"It's not time for games now," she reprimanded gently "Behave!"

The gold light vanished as the cards flew into Sakura's hands.

"What are these?" Sakura muttered.

"The Clow cards. Those that are concerned with the power of the light and the power of the skies," the Light murmured, "Now it is time for you to leave this limbo as Clow Reed had foretold it."

Sakura stared at her.

"He predicted all of this?!" she gasped.

The Light nodded, a mysterious smile dancing across her lips.

"Please pick out the Fly card," she commanded.

Sakura sifted through cards noticing that each of their names was written along the bottom. Seeing the card that the Light had told her to pick out, Sakura pulled it from the stack and studied it.

"Summon it," Kerberos growled.

Sakura stared at him.

"How?"

The Light sighed.

"Throw the card onto the ground and say after me."

Sakura threw the card onto the ground as she waited for the Light's next instruction.

"Say release and dispel and hit the card with the Star Wand."

The Angel nodded as she held her wand tightly.

"FLY CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

She brought her wand down and gasped as bright light burst from the cards. Glowing runes appeared beneath her feet as strands of thick white smoke burst from the card, they flew into the air twining together to form complex shapes as Sakura looked on in stunned silence. Two immense pairs of feathered wings appeared as a long swan-like neck took shape. Wicked talons appeared at the end of its long feet as a pair of red eyes studied Sakura carefully, intelligence gleaming in its ruby depths.

"Flower, meet the Fly," the Light murmured.

Sakura waved nervously at the card.

"Hi," she said weakly as the bird-like spirit screeched its greeting.

"Normally the Fly card only has the power to fly and give the power of flight to its user however Clow Reed saw that one day one of the chosen would enter the limbo and he gave the Fly the ability to move across the realms," the Light took a deep breath, "However the Fly only has the power to do this once. It can only move you back to the real world, once and that is all."

Sakura stared at the Fly as it flexed its long wings after long centuries of imprisonment within the confines of its card.

"What?" Sakura whispered.

"Command the Fly to take you back to the real world and you will awake from your coma," the Light said calmly, "Go on."

Sakura nodded and opened her mouth to tell the Fly what to do but suddenly she was struck with a random thought.

Zachary...

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Tomoyo smiled politely before slipping out of her seat and heading towards the bathroom as Eriol quickly pulled the vial of poison out of his pocket. Quickly scanning the restaurant and seeing no one was around, he unscrewed the lid and tipped the blue liquid into Tomoyo's half-filled wineglass.

Screwing the lid back on and slipping the vial back into his pocket, Eriol waited.

It was done.

Tomoyo was going to die.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Lying in the ruined remains of Tomoyo Daidouji's house, Meiling groaned in pain. Her eyes flickered open as she struggled to seat up.

"Marcus," she whispered looking around, "Lily?"

They were gone.

So were the thugs.

"No! No! No!" Meiling growled jumping up.

She raced through the house but all traces of Marcus, Lily and the thugs had disappeared all that remained of the fight were the broken windows and ruined furniture.

"Marcus..." she whispered, "Oh god..."

Suddenly she froze as a piercing howl fill the air. Slowly she relaxed as she realised it was just the wind.

"It's just the wind," she muttered to herself, "It's just the wind."

"Actually," a quiet voice muttered from the shadows, "It's the Windy."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Zachary...

Sakura gasped.

"Kerberos?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Do all people that fall into comas end up in the limbo?"

The lion beast nodded.

"All," he confirmed.

Suddenly his amber eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Why?" he demanded, "Why did you ask something like that?"

Sakura shrugged as she smiled innocently at him.

"Nothing, just nothing..." she said sweetly.

Kerberos continued to eye her.

"What are you up..."

"Hurry up mistress," the Light urge, "You must get out of here. Now."

Sakura nodded as she turned back to the Fly who waited patiently for her command.

"Fly card," she said loudly and clearly, "I want you to find my friend, Zachary in this limbo and take him back to the real world. That is my command."

"NOOO!!" Kerberos roared as the Light gasped in shock.

The Fly nodded and spread its wings. With two powerful beats of its wings, it launched into flight gliding off into the mist of the limbo as Sakura waved after it.

"FLOWER!" The Light managed to gasp at last, "Do you know what you have done?"

Sakura smiled at her.

"I saved my friend."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Eriol studied Tomoyo's face as they walked down the moonlit pathway of the silent park admiring the way the plants looked in the pale light of the moon.

The toxin he had used was slow acting usually taking at least an hour or two to work, so Tomoyo, according to his calculations, had around ten more minutes before the poison struck.

"What are you thinking about?" Tomoyo asked softly.

"You," Eriol replied without thinking.

Tomoyo smiled at him sweetly as she leaned up to give him a soft kiss on the mouth.

"I'm thinking about you too," Tomoyo glanced around the still park until her eyes fell upon a cherry blossom tree, its flower-laded branches swinging in the gentle breeze.

A small frown appeared on her face.

She seemed to be remembering something.

A dream.

From the night before.

The forest...

The woman...

The tree...

The cherry blossom tree!

"Tomoyo?" Eriol murmured.

"Yeah?" Tomoyo replied distractedly as she fought to remember the rest of her dream.

"I love you."

The Flower has fallen the phrase suddenly appeared in her mind as Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock.

"Tomoyo?" Eriol asked gently, "Did you hear what I said?"

Tomoyo wasn't listening.

The Flower... Sakura... she was in trouble.

Sakura!

"Sakura!" Tomoyo gasped.

"What?" Eriol asked confused as Tomoyo blushed.

She opened her mouth to tell him a lie but suddenly she felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her vision began to dim as a strange coldness invaded her body. Her body began shivering and trembling as beads of cold sweat appeared on her face.

"Eriol?" she whimpered.

Eriol stared at her calmly as the poison began savagely attacking her body.

"Eriol?" she whispered.

She let out a small scream of pain as her heart began fluttering wildly as darkness clawed at the edges of her consciousness.

"Tell Meiling... tell her..." Tomoyo bit down onto her lip to pain wracked her body, "Tell Meiling... Sakura... Sakura is in trouble."

With that Tomoyo's eyes fluttered shut as darkness claimed her senses.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"WINDY?!" Meiling spluttered.

"Please," the voice pleaded, "Calm down."

Meiling's jaw almost dropped to the ground as something stepped out from the shadows. A tall woman with long golden hair and peaceful gold eyes appeared in front of her as the semi-transparent dress she wore fluttered in a breeze, coming from some unknown source. Two dragonfly-like wings sprouting from her back flapped lazily as Meiling stared at her.

"What the?!" Meiling yelled, "Oh my god, that knock to the head was worse than I thought!"

"No please," the 'Windy' pleaded, "Calm down."

"Oh, let me handle it!" another voice yelled.

A ball of fire appeared from the thin air in front of Meiling as she took a terrified step backwards. The flames grew and grew until it exploded throwing a wave of incredible heat at Meiling, a red-coloured creature with burning red eyes and pale pink skin and hair appeared in front of her. Staring at her with its red eyes as Meiling's eyes were drawn to the dancing red flames that raged where its legs should've been.

"Sorry," a second voice squeaked, "We tried to hold her back!"

Another creature appeared, this time its body was composed of various shades of blue with a dark ultramarine blue appearing on its fish-like tail and with a light shade of azure for its skin. Two fin-like ears poked out from its long blue hair as its fish-like tail waved lazily from side to side.

"Don't worry," the Windy reassure, "Fiery is always like that."

"Hey!" the red creature snapped, its pair of large red-feathered wings flapping impatiently causing waves of heat to wash over Meiling.

"Where's Earthy?" the Windy asked.

"Here," a fourth figure appeared.

This time a tall woman with light brown skin appeared, an emerald studded crown decorating her hair as an emerald-coloured gown covering her body glowed with an internal light. It studied Meiling with cool green eyes as a small smile appeared on her face.

"Hello, mistress," the Earthy greeted.

"Who... wha... who are you?!" Meiling demanded.

"Sorry," the Windy said apologetically, "I'm the Windy, that is the Fiery..."

The red winged creature waved at her.

"That is Watery."

The mermaid-like girl smiled at her as the Windy finished its introductions.

"That is the Earthy."

The tall brown-skinned woman bowed respectfully to her.

"As for what we are, we're the elemental Clow cards from the Book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die."

"WHAT?!" Meiling exploded.

The Windy raised a hand to cut of Meiling's surprised shout.

"There will be a time for explanations later but for now Ruby Moon, the guardian of the second book sends us to you. We're to take you to her domain so you can retrieve the talisman of the earth."

Meiling stared at the Clow card, shocked into silence.

"We're to take you to her, now," the Fiery cut in.

"But... I can't..." Meiling took in a deep breath and tried to calm down, "Can we get Sakura or Tomoyo or..."  
"I'm afraid both of them are otherwise..." the Watery trailed off, "... occupied?"

"What?" Meiling demanded.

"Well... you see..." the Earthy cleared her throat nervously, "The Flower is now lying in a coma in Santa Barbara hospital."

Meiling stared at her.

"And the Fox... she's been poisoned," the Fiery finished off bluntly.

All four elementals watched her as Meiling struggled to speak.

"What? HOW?!" she demanded.

"It doesn't matter," the Fiery cut her off, "They're fine. We need you. Ruby Moon awaits."

"But I can't go!" Meiling exploded, "Marcus and Lily have been kidnapped and now I find out that Sakura and Tomoyo..."

"It doesn't matter!" the Fiery snarled back, "You need to go... NOW!"

"Why you little..." Meiling took a menacing step forwards.

"Come on, I dare you!" the Fiery growled raising its tiny hands.

"Fiery! Fighter!" Windy yelled, "Stop it!"

The Fiery back off as Meiling continued to glower at the card.

"We know you care for this... Marcus," Watery said gently, "But something more is at stake."  
"Read my lips," Meiling growled, "Until Marcus and Lily are safely out of danger I. Will. NOT. GO."

She glared at them as the Fiery glared back. Watery, Windy and Earthy sighed in frustration.

"Perhaps we can help," another voice murmured.

"Wood?" Windy asked, "What's going on?"

"Ruby Moon sent us. She knew this was going to happen."

"How many of you are there?!" Meiling demanded.

"Many," Fiery snapped back.

Two many figures appeared. One of them was a woman with long emerald hair and light green skin, her clothing seemed to be completely composed of leafy branches twined together to form some kind of dress. The other woman smiled at Meiling mysteriously, she was dressed in an Arabian-style clothing with a golden vest and long baggy cream-coloured pants.

"Wood? Sand?" Earthy asked puzzled, "What's going on?"

"Fighter," the Wood called.

Meiling stared at her.

"If you go with the elementals, I swear Sand and I shall rescue your lover for you."

"How do I know if you can..." Meiling began angrily.

"We're Clow cards," the Wood cut in gently, "I know where they're. You know even if we allow you to rescue Marcus and Lily, it would take you days even weeks to find Mallus's stronghold. And even then you couldn't rescue them."

"I could rescue them right now, if I wanted to," Meiling snapped.

"Weren't you listening to us?" the Earthy asked, "The Flower and Fox are out of commission. They are in the limbo between life and death, you Fighter is the only one left. You're the last one standing."

"What's wrong with them? Are they okay?" Meiling asked worriedly looking at the cards.

"They're fine. Sakura is with the Light card and Kerberos. What the Light is teaching her is vital to your mission and Tomoyo... we don't know about her yet but she seems to be fine," the Earthy replied.

"You promise you'll save them?" Meiling asked, her voice sounding more vulnerable then she'll like it to.  
The Wood and Sand nodded.

"Fine," Meiling sighed, "I'll go with you."

"Good," the Windy smiled.

"Wait," Meiling demanded, "Where are we go..."

Opaque ribbons of wind swirled around her as Meiling's question was cut off.

"Wha..."

With a bright flash of light she disappeared.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"...t?" Meiling trailed off as she stared around.

"Where am I?" she wondered as she stared at her surroundings.

She seemed to be in a rocky cavern of some sort, red light danced along the rocky walls as waves of immense heat rose from the ground. She peered down at the ground and freaked as she realised she was standing on top of a rocky ridge. Below her, a massive sea of magma seethed and surged releasing huge clouds of smoke and steam.

The elementals cards suddenly appeared beside her as the Earthy spoke up.

"You're now in Ruby Moon's domain."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Whoa! That was probably the longest chapter I've written so far and guess what? MORE CLIFFHANGERS!

Next chapter:

As Meiling with the help of the elemental cards fights Ruby Moon for the second talisman, the Wood and Sand card mount a ruthless attack against Mallus Harrason. As for the other two Angels, Sakura is trapped in the limbo thanks to her selfless sacrifice. As Tomoyo lies dangerously close to death, Eriol begins to realise the true depths of his feelings for her. Will Meiling win against the powerful might of Ruby Moon? Find out in... _Under ice, over fire._

A/Note: Okay, for the readers who may be confused by the books and the history of the Void here is a summary of it:

Clow Reed originally lived in the Shang Dynasty and worked for the emperor at the time. He experimented with the creation of magical beings and created the Clow cards, who are personifications of nature. But they got too mischievous and he had to seal them into cards to keep them from harming people.

At the same time, Heilang, a rival of Clow Reed, stole his notes on the creation of the Clow cards and tried to create a card of his own. Heilang wanted to create a card that was more powerful then the other cards and so he created the Void.

The Void card was really powerful but it was also evil eventually Heilang lost control over it and the Void killed him and began destroying Anyang, the capital of the Shang Dynasty. Eventually Clow Reed managed to seal the card but didn't have the power to destroy it.

One day, he received a vision that told him that one day in the future, three girls (the Angels) would appear and they would have the power to destroy the Void. Clow Reed then created the prophecy and the books to aid the girls in their quest to destroy the Void. The books were designed to hold certain cards in them. The first book (Fei Lao Shi) is designed to hold cards belonging to the light (the Light, the Libra etc.), to metal (the Lock, the Shield etc.) and the sky (the Rain, the Cloud etc.). The second book (Hong Bao Shi Hu Die) is designed to hold cards belong to the earth (the Elementals, Wood, Sand etc.) and Yue Gong Jian Shou is designed to hold cards of the spiritual realm (Shadow, Dark etc.) and the dreamscape (the Dream, Sleep etc.). The fourth book (the Book of Hei Lang or Black Wolf) is designed to hold just the Void card and is designed to trap the card until the three girls find it and destroy it.

So there it is, the history of the books and the cards! Hopes it gives you a better sense of what's going on.


	22. Under ice, Over fire

HELLO, I'M BACK AND A WHOLE NEW CHAPTER FOR YOU TO ENJOY. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!

PLEASE, PLEASE READ THE A/NOTES AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER!

I WILL NOT UPDATE UNTIL I HAVE ANOTHER 20 REVIEWS!

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.

Syaoran's Angels

**Chapter 21: Under ice, over fire**

The ice-laced wind sliced through the chilly air, weaving a snowy ribbon around the jagged mountains tops that towered over the land below. The bright morning sun glanced off the sheer sheets of ice that armoured the rocky mountains glittering like diamonds in the frosty light.

It was a desolate place with no hint of life at all, there were no sounds aside from the mournful howl of the winds as they navigated the labyrinth of valleys and canyons that was sunk into earth's ancient surface.

It was a realm of ice and snow, where coldness ruled and where little else was to be found. A land of sheer cliffs and deep ravines: treacherous and forbidding.

But under it all...

Under the layers upon layers of freezing ice and solid rock lay a land of fire.

_Under ice._

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

The earth seethed and raged spitting out red-hot magma that clung to the rocky walls, the heat eating away at the surface. Immense clouds of super-heated stream and poisonous gases rose from the fiery depths like toxic phoenixes fighting their way to the top of the cavern searching for cracks to escape from to the world above.

This was the earth in all its glory.

Monolithic waves of magma vented their wrath on the rocks as the core of the earth churned and raged. Seismic waves shook the very foundations of the mountain as burning red light danced across the cavern walls drawing forth images of Hell and demonic tormentors from the depths of the human mind.

This was a place where ice was a mere myth; this was where the earth was destroyed and reborn again in an eternal cycle. This was a place that no human could survive in.

But standing on a small insignificant ridge overlooking this fiery display of the earth's might was a single person, dwarfed by the melee of fire and molten rock that rose in waves and spectacular explosions around her, she stood accompanied by four spirits of nature.

Meiling Rae looked down at the sea of magma below and gulped.

_Over fire._

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

This was Ruby Moon's domain.

"Okay why am I again?" Meiling asked staring at the surging lava below.

The Earthy sighed.

"So you can retrieve the sword and begin fulfilling the prophecy," the card explained.

"Oh great," Meiling grumbled, "Can't we... I don't know... go somewhere that's not a bloody VOLCANO!?"

"Please calm down," the Watery card pleaded, "You need to remain calm.

"HOW CAN !?" the Asian Angel shrieked back in reply, "I'M IN A FREAKING VOLCANO! I'LL BE BURNT TO DEATH!"

The Fiery snorted.

"Not while I'm here," it snapped back.

Meiling stared at the card and noticed for the first time that the tiny fire sprite was emitting a red aura from its burning skin.

"What the..." the Angel trailed off.

The Windy sighed in frustration.

"The Fiery is using its power over flames and heat to protect you from the magma," she explained, "There's nothing to worry about. Just concentrate on getting the sword."

"And where is that?" Meiling snapped.

The four elemental cards looked at each other as the Angel fidgeted nervously.

"What?" she scowled narrowing her eyes at them.

She had a funny feeling she wouldn't like the answer. Finally, it was the Watery who piped up nervously.

"Well the sword... is kinda... well you know... it's..." the mermaid-like card took a deep breath, "There."

The Watery card was pointing at the magma below.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Eriol watched as Tomoyo fell to the ground, her usually alert lavender eyes going dull as the poison wreaked havoc inside her body.

He was trying to remain neutral, cold, impersonal.

This was Tomoyo Daidouji, one of the women he had been hired to kill. He had no feelings for her. He had no feeling for her.

God damn it, he was chanting that phrase like a mantra. Maybe if he said it enough times, maybe if he just tried hard enough all his feelings for her would disappear...

He had no feelings for her.

He had no...

Tomoyo let out a low whimper and his heart broke.

"What have I done?".

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

The Fly let out a triumphant screech as its ruby red eyes fell upon its quarry. It stretched its immense wings and killed its speed gliding towards its unsuspecting prey with its talons outstretched.

Zachary Takashi turned around and before he could react, the talons closed around his shoulders and the Fly pumped its wings powerfully launching itself into the air.

"Let go of me!" Zachary yelled as the Fly continued to speed into the air, "What are you? Where are you taking me?"

The bird-like card ignored the human clutched in its claws instead focusing on the task that its mistress had given him. It was to take this human back to the real world.

The Fly gave a massive screech and shot up straight into the air flapping its wings as fast as it could.

Faster and faster it flew until the mist swirled around the speeding the creature. The landscape around it blurred as gold light radiated from its feathers washing over its body like gold fire.

With a final screech, the Fly gave one mighty flap and with a bright flash of light disappeared.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Marcus was dimly aware of the fact that he was a dark cell with his daughter curled up beside him whimpering softly as he struggled to speak trying to comfort her daughter.

When he finally managed to gather the strength to open his mouth, he was shocked to feel warm blood drip down his lips. The left side of his body raged as though it was on fire whilst his right was numb and unfeeling.

"Ahhh..." he moaned softly.

"Daddy?" Lily whispered terrified.

Marcus managed a weak smile.

"I'm fine honey."

"Actually you're not."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Meiling freaked.

"What?!" she shrieked her voice becoming oddly soprano.

The Fiery sniggered as the Windy glared at her warningly.

"How?" Meiling managed to ask faintly.

"Simple," the Earthy smirked before turning around and looking down at the sea of molten rock below.

Meiling watched in fascination as the Earthy gestured green energy appeared around her eyes. The emeralds embedded into the silver crown she wore glowed brightly before unleashing a huge beam of green energy.

The volcano shook as Meiling struggled to keep her balance suddenly terrified of the thought of being pitched into the lava below. The green energy plummeted down into the lava causing massive tsunamis of fire to crash into the sides of the chamber. The Earthy concentrated weaving complex designs into the air with her fingers as the energy formed a glowing dome that shoved the lava away revealing a small patch of smoking black earth.

"Look," the Windy commanded as Meiling gingerly made her way to the edge of the ridge.

Lying on her stomach, she stuck her head over the edge and peered down below as the Earthy gestured making the dome semi-transparent. Bathed in ghostly green light and buried up to the hilt was a sword. Crafted from some kind of gold alloy that could withstand the awesome might of the volcano it blazed with brilliant light as the ruby set into the cross-hilt of the sword throbbed with magical light.

"Oh my..." Meiling murmured admiring the weapon buried in the ground.

"Come," the Windy commanded, "It's time for you to wield the talisman."

Meiling swivelled her head around and frowned at the card.

"How am I going to..." before she could finish her sentence, the Fiery and Windy card spread their wings and flew straight at her.

Two pairs of hand, one almost unbearably hot, the other cool and gentle like a puff of wind grasped her arms as Meiling was lifted up into the air.

Meiling gulped and closely her eyes as the two cards soared down towards the sea of magma, waves of intense heat washing over her as they drew close to the dome of green energy.

There was a slight tingling as Meiling passed through the barrier and soon she was standing inside the dome as the Windy and Fiery let go of her hands.

Staring mesmerised at the sword buried into the ground, Meiling took one step forwards.

"It's beautiful," she said haltingly before closing the distance between them.

Kneeling down onto her knees, she grasped the red-leather bound handle in two hands savouring the feel of the cool leather against her palm. Slowly, inch-by-inch she drew the blade from the hard earth, the metal lifting out of the ground with ease.

Finally free, she held the sword aloft admiring the play of light across the golden blade. Briefly she puzzled over the mysterious symbols and runes etched into the lethal blade but ignored it as she slowly rose her eyes still captivated by the weapon.

Experimentally, she twirled the sword around in her hands instantly liking the balance of the sword and savouring the sound it made as the edge sliced through the air.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Alas the sword is still not yours," the Windy said gently.

Meiling ripped her eyes from the sword to stare at her.

"What?"  
"Ruby Moon still awaits," the Earthy called from the ridge above, "You still have to meet her in combat."

"In combat?" Meiling repeated slowly as though the words were foreign to her.

Before the elementals could reply, the air before Meiling shimmered as though she was viewing it through a heat haze. The Angel took a small step backwards as the air glowed with bright red light.

A pair of wide butterfly-like wings decorated with vibrant rainbow colours emerged from the light as a calm voice echoed through the volcano.

"I am Ruby Moon..."

The light faded revealing a tall brunette woman wearing a long flowing crimson gown as the butterfly-like wings sprouting from her back flapped wildly.

"And this is my challenge," the woman continued.

A flaming sword suddenly appeared in her hands as she thrust the weapon at Meiling's face.

"Do you accept?"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura smiled as the two magical creatures standing beside her freaked.

"Flower..." the Light managed to gasp at last.

Sakura smiled at her.

"What?" she asked.

"You have just doomed the world to die," the Light whispered ominously, "Without you, the Void cannot be destroyed."

Sakura shrugged.

"Meiling and Tomoyo will find a way to get me out of here," she said unconcerned.

"FLOWER!!" Kerberos roared, "HAVEN'T YOU BEEN LISTENING. THE VOID WILL WIN NOW THANKS TO YOU!!"

"Chill, Kerberos," Sakura smiled at him, "I'll get out of here. Don't you worry."

"OH MY GOD!" Kerberos screamed at her, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Chelsea clutched her husband's cold hand tightly as she prayed to god for around the a thousandth time just in the last hour.

"Please god, please make my husband wake up. Please, I'm begging you," she whispered tears flooding into her eyes.

Blinded by her desperate tears, Chelsea didn't see the faint gold light that danced across her husband's face before fading away as quickly as it had appeared.

Zachary's fingers twitched as Chelsea froze.

"Zachary?" she whispered timidly hoping against hope.

His fingers twitched again as Chelsea let out a small gasp.

"Zachary?" she whimpered, "Zachary? Please wake up."

Chelsea watched as with agonising slowness her husband's eyelids slowly flickered open. Light glanced upon the round surface of his irises as Zachary blinked trying to clear his vision.

"ZACHARY!" Chelsea yelled.

Zachary blinked at her.

"Chelsea?" he said hoarsely, "Where am I?"

To his astonishment, his wife burst into tears and clung to his hand as doctors and nurses rushed into the room.

With his attention solely focused on his weeping wife, Zachary didn't notice the pair of satisfied ruby eyes that peered at him through the window.

The Fly gave a small squawk and took flight winging its way back to its mistress.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Rika Sasaki crouched in the shadows watching the scene that unfolded before her.

One of the Angels was being bundled into the back of an ambulance as a blue-haired man looked on. If she wasn't mistaken, that man was Eriol Hiragizawa.

For a few seconds she was puzzled over what this meant. Eriol and one of the Angels? It made no sense.

Rika shoved the thoughts out of her head and concentrated on what she had to do.

This would be easy the Angel was already injured. This would be a simple killing.

Rika readied her claws and waited for the chance to strike.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Pale blue light flooded the room as a door hidden within the shadows swung open.

"Hello, Mr. Flaron," the voice continued.

Marcus growled at the owner of the voice.

"You bas..." he began.

"Please, not in front of the little ones," Mallus Harrason smirked, "I hope that your accommodations are fitting?"

"Go to hell," Marcus spat.

"Sorry, not my idea of a holiday destination," Mallus hissed back a small polite smile on his age-worn face.

Before Marcus could react, Mallus's foot snaked forwards and his expensive leather shoe rammed into Marcus's bullet wound. Lily whimpered as her father let out a huge yell of pain as Mallus looked on dispassionately.

"Do hurt my daddy!!" Lily shrieked running straight at Mallus.

Mallus grabbed the little girl's arm and threw her to the ground as he spoke to Marcus.

"Really Marcus, your daughter should learn some manners," he advised, a false fatherly tone entering his voice as a cruel smile crept onto his face enjoying the younger man's pain.

And with that Mallus turned around and left closing the door behind him as Marcus and Lily was once again plunged back into darkness.

"Lily?" Marcus asked weakly between gasping breaths as he struggled to sit up, "Are you okay baby?"

"I'm fine daddy," Lily's trembling voice replied from the darkness.

"Good," Marcus struggled to keep the pain from his voice, "Come here."

He could dimly hear the sound of Lily's bare feet slapping the hard concrete ground before feeling his daughter pressed up against his chest. Weakly he looped his arm around her and hugged her tightly.

"Everything's going to be okay," Marcus murmured soothly, "Everyth..."

A low moan of pain escaped his lips as Lily accidentally pressed against her father's bullet wound.

"Daddy? Are you hurt?" Lily asked worriedly, "Daddy?"

"I'm fine honey," Marcus said back strongly with more strength than he felt.

He sensed rather than saw the small quivering smile on his daughter's face.

"Aunty Meiling will save us, wouldn't she?"

Marcus replied without hesitation.

"Yeah, she probably will."  
Lily snuggled up to her father as she continued to pelt him with questions.

"Aunty Meiling sure is beautiful is she?"

Marcus chuckled thinking to how she looked on their first date.

"Yeah, she sure is."

Lily frowned.

"Do you like Aunty Meiling?" she asked curiously.

"Like doesn't even begin to describe it," Marcus replied with a broad smile, "Why all the questions?"

"Do you think..." Lily trailed off but Marcus could tell she was excited.

"What?" Marcus asked curiously.

"Pardon, daddy," Lily retorted prissily, "Aunty Tomoyo said that saying 'what' is impolite."

Marcus rolled his eyes and mentally noted that Tomoyo would make a good mother or teacher.

"Sorry," Marcus said deciding to humour Lily it certainly was taking her mind of their dangerous situation, "Pardon?"

"Do you think she can be my mommy?" Lily asked innocently.

There was a massive silence as Marcus gaped at his daughter.

"Daddy?" Lily prompted.

Marcus struggled to recover from his shock.

"I... I... I..." he stammered.

Taking a deep breath, he winced as his wound gave a sudden throb with pain.

"It has crossed my mind," Marcus admitted.

Lily gave a sudden burst of delighted laughter.

"Than she's going to be my mommy! Mommy Meiling!" she crowed cheerfully.

"Umm... Lily maybe we should talk with Meiling..."

"Mommy," Lily corrected.

Marcus sighed.

Why did his daughter have to be so stubborn?

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Tomoyo dreamed of mist and darkness. She dreamed of pale moonlight reflected in the shimmering surface of a placid lake. She dreamed of pale blue feathers falling from the heavens to land delicately upon the lake surface, gentle ripples disrupting the still surface of the water. Tall imposing mountains stood guard around the edges of the lake leaving behind a narrow stretch of beach between the lake and the rocky base of the mountains.

"Where am I?" she wondered as she stood at the edge of the dark lapis lazuli lake, gentle waves lapping at her feet.

"Welcome, Fox," a soft voice echoed through the valleys of the mountains and amplified by the ravines' walls.

Tomoyo's eyes widened with shock as her lavender eyes flicked from side to side scanning the area trying to find the source of the voice.

"You cannot hope to find me unless I reveal myself," the voice said amused as though it could read Tomoyo's mind, "In this realm, I am all powerful."

"Okay then," Tomoyo challenged, "Reveal yourself!"

"Very well," the voice said calmly.

A cool breeze swept past Tomoyo's body throwing her grey hair up into the air as ripples began appearing on the lake's surface reflecting the moon's light to create a mesmerising mosaic of light and water.

Suddenly the lake's surface seemed to shudder before falling still. The wind died down as Tomoyo tensed hating the sudden silence of the area.

"WHOOSH!"

The centre of the lake surged upwards forming a watery dome before exploding showering the shore and the base of the mountains with droplets of water. Tomoyo winced as the cold water slapped against her body but ignored her discomfort as pale figure flew up from the lake.

She gasped as a pair of long, powerful wings burst from the figure's shoulders their pale blue feathers capturing the moonlight and making them glow with pale silver light. Blue, white and silver threads burst from the man's torso weaving themselves around his legs and arms forming long flowing sleeves and a pale blue and white tunic that came down almost to his knees. As Tomoyo looked on, the bird-like wings gave a lazy flap shooting him across the lake's surface. He gave one more lazy flap before landing delicately in front of her.

Almost unconsciously, Tomoyo took a step backwards as the winged man fixed his piercing blue eyes upon her face. With his long flowing white hair and impeccable handsome face, he looked like an angel.

"Are you an angel?" Tomoyo whispered in awe.

The man gave her a crooked smile.

"No my dear, you are."

"Do you accept?"

Meiling slowly backed away from the flaming sword that threatened to melt her face off as she slowly raised the sword in her hands. She sent the woman, a wicked grin.

"You're on."

Before she could react, the winged woman darted forwards slicing the air with her fiery blade. Meiling jumped backwards to afford a wild swipe and blocked deftly with her own sword.

"Do you honestly think you can defeat me?" the woman asked.

"Well yeah, I kinda do," Meiling shot back.

The woman smiled coolly at her before taking a step back. Meiling watched her warily as she pointed the flaming sword at her.

"HUO!" the woman barked.

Meiling let out a surprised yelp as the burning flames dancing across the sword's surface leapt at her. Leaping nimbly to the side, she watched in horror as the flames lashed the ground she had just been standing on blackening the earth as the woman smiled.

"Now do you think you can defeat me?" the woman smirked.

"Okay, I'm just guessing but you're Ruby Moon, right?" Meiling quipped.

The woman smiled mysteriously.

"The one and only."

"Hmm... then I guess you can lonely hanging around in this place all by yourself," Meiling zipped back before bouncing on the balls of her heels and launching herself at the mystical being. Ruby Moon tried to point her flaming sword at the charging Angel but Meiling batted the burning blade away with her own sword before elbowing the guardian in the face.

Ruby Moon hit the ground as some kind of ancient language flew from her lips.

"Swearing?" Meiling asked raising an eyebrow, "Now that's not very nice."

The guardian spat at Meiling and charged her ruby eyes icy with rage. Meiling nimbly dodged her sword as it smashed into the ground creating a smoking trench as Ruby Moon ripped it out of the ground with a yell of fury.

"TANG!"

Sparks flew as Meiling's arm turned numb.

"TANG!"

Moving quickly, Meiling barely managed to block Ruby Moon's next attack as her flaming sword hammered into her own.

"Ow," Meiling hissed as she spun around whipping her sword at neck-height.

Ruby Moon deftly blocked the blow but was totally unprepared as Meiling's foot snaked forwards and crushed her knee with a devastating below. Ruby Moon let out a huge roar of pain as Meiling danced backwards avoiding her fiery swipes.

"HUO!"

Huge sheets of flames blanketed the ground as Meiling looked around desperately for any avenues for escape.

There were none.

"Damn," she said mildly as she turned around to stare at the massive wave of fire that threatened to burn her to ashes.

"Uh, uh," a familiar cocky voice muttered from behind Meiling, "Don't think so."

Meiling turned around and stare at the pale-pink face of the Fiery card as it beat its massive wings. The flames seemed to pause in its fiery assault as the Fiery smirked and flapped its wings again.

"WHOOSH!"

The fire reversed direction rolling in on itself like a wave before throwing itself into the air forming a fiery crest. Ruby Moon stared at it in horror as the flames crashed down on her with enough force to shatter the earth.

The volcano rumbled dangerously as the flames dissipated.

"Thanks," Meiling gasped to the Fiery.

The card smirked back.

"No probs," the fire sprite said cheerfully, "But I think Ruby Moon is pissed."

Meiling turned around and to her surprise she was surprised to see Ruby Moon pick herself up off the ground.

"Man," Meiling muttered, "How much does it take to defeat you?"  
Ruby Moon smirked at her as she rubbed her sooty face revealing the pale creamy skin beneath.

"A lot," she said dangerously.

Before Meiling could hurl another verbal barb at her, Ruby Moon gave her wings a powerful pump as she launched herself into the air.

"CRACK!"

Ruby Moon's left wing clipped Meiling in the chin as she sped past. Spinning around with the force of the blow, Meiling blinked in confusion as she wondered what had hit her.

"CRACK!"

Another blur of red, brown and black shot past the disorientated Angel as the back of Meiling's head exploded into numbing needles of pain. Still trying to clear her vision and trying to figure out where the hell Ruby Moon was attacking from, Meiling lost her footing and hit the ground heavily.

"Owww..." she groaned into the ground before flopping onto her back.

"Ow," Fiery said cheerfully, "That looks painful."

Meiling managed to send Fiery a death glare, which the magical creature pointedly ignore as she struggled to sit up.

"Uh oh... somewhere left a mess on the ground. Guess its up to me to clean it up," Ruby Moon's wicked voice said from somewhere above her.

Meiling froze as she felt something heavy against her chest.

Pushing the stunned Angel to the ground with her foot, Ruby Moon pinned her there as she slowly waved her flaming sword in the air.

"Admit it..."

Calmly she brought its flaming tip to Meiling's throat. The Fiery let a low gasp and moved to defend the Angel but with a flick of Ruby Moon's free hand the fire sprite was sent flying by an invisible force.

"CRACK!"

Its flaming head slammed into the green barrier the Earthy had crafted as its red eyes widened in shock before becoming clouded with pain. Meiling gritted her teeth as she watched the card slump to the ground, out cold. Ruby Moon smiled coldly down at the Angel.

"You just can't win."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Marcus's breath was becoming laboured as his side throbbed with pain.

"Lily?" he rasped rousing his daughter from her sleep.

"Daddy?" Lily murmured groggily.

Marcus smiles sadly down at his daughter, he wasn't going to live through this. He knew it, his wound was too big and even if Meiling could rescue him, she couldn't do it in time for him to live.

Funny, he didn't feel sad just angry at Mallus for taking him away from Lily and the woman he loved.

"Remember Lily, be strong," Marcus said softly, "Be strong, mommy will come."

"Daddy?" Lily's voice was quivering, "Daddy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just come to sleep now but remember be strong," Marcus said softly.

But Lily was too afraid to sleep.

"Daddy, what's wrong?"

Before Marcus could answer he felt the ground beneath him rumble. He let out a low hiss of pain as it jolted the wound in his side.

"What the..." he murmured weakly as the rumbling intensified.

Dimly he could see tiny cracks emerging in the thick concrete as he and Lily watched on in shock he saw the cracks lengthen and widen becoming mini fissures in the hard surface. They zigzagged crazily over the surface like black lightning bolts, joining together, fusing together to form a complex lattice of cracks and holes.

As Marcus watched wondering if the wound was causing him to hallucinate the cracks began splitting the concrete up into jigsaw like pieces. Suddenly in the centre of the floor a few metres away from his feet, the broken slabs of concrete bulged forwards as though something was through to push through. A small bump formed quickly growing in size as Marcus drew his legs away from the growing phenomenon.

"CRACK!"

The bump literally exploded hurling small chips of concrete all across the room as Marcus bent over his cowering daughter protecting her body with his own as he felt some pieces of rock bite into his back when he looked up again he was shocked to see, a gentle green glow lightning up the gaping hole now sitting inside the concrete.

As he watched, the glowing faded as something shot up from the hole. First he thought it was a snake of some kind as the thin narrow silhouette twisted this and that way as though scanning the narrow. As he leaned forwards to study the thing more closely, he was shocked to see it was a thin leafy tendril.

"You must be some plant to shatter concrete," he murmured quietly as he admired the vine, which seemed to turn to him as though it could hear him talking.

"Thanks, it's not often I get compliments," a gentle voice said cheerfully from the hole as Marcus almost had a heart attack.

More vines shot out of the hole as something green and vaguely human emerged. A tall woman with serene green eyes smiled at him, as she waved her long pale green arms around the vines instantly reacting to her gesture. They wrapped themselves around her finger like an army of trained snakes as the woman continued to smile at Marcus.

"Wha... who... when... how..." Marcus gasped in shock as Lily watched the woman in silent fascination.

"Hello, child," the woman greeted Lily warmly.

Lily smiled make unsurely as the green woman turned to Marcus.

"Marcus Flaron, I presume?" she asked softly, "Hello, I am the Wood card and I've been sent by the Fighter to rescue you."

"Fighter?" Marcus echoed confused. "Who..."

The woman giggled.

"Whoops, sorry silly me. You don't know about the prophecy, I meant Ms. Rae."

"Meiling?" Marcus gaped at the woman wondering how on earth had Meiling hired someone so strange to rescue him and Lily, "Where is..."

The Wood smiled crookedly.

"I think currently she's in a live volcano fighting Ruby Moon for the talisman but that's not the important thing," the Wood took a deep breath, "Getting you out is."

Eriol waited anxiously as they loaded the unconscious Tomoyo into the back of the ambulance.

"Is she going to be fine?" he asked the medics nervously, "Is she..."

"Sir, please," the medic said calmly and slowly, "We're doing the best we can. Are you her husband?"

"No, just her boyfriend," Eriol replied.

The medic nodded as they closed the door to the ambulance.

"You can come the hospital if you like," the man told him, "We'll be there in a few minutes."

With that he climbed into the ambulance and it pulled away leaving behind a very confused assassin.

Why did he care what happened to her? He wanted to kill her... didn't he?  
Eriol sighed. Everything was so confusing right now, he didn't know what to do except that he had to go the hospital.

Now.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Does everyone know about Angels?" Tomoyo scowled, "I mean... jeez! First Kiyone, Nivaline, Fujitaka and now you! What the hell is going on?"

The man remained silent during Tomoyo's ranting when the Angel finally calmed down he spoke up again.

" I am Yue, the Guardian of the Third book. The book of Yue Gong Jian Shou," he explained as his long white hair flapped idly in the cool breeze that nipped at Tomoyo's exposed skin.

"You're the guardian?" Tomoyo asked amazed, "Okay... where am I?"

"You in my realm, which is located in the limbo," Yue looked around and gestured at the lake and the mountains, "This is the haven I've created for me to meditate and wait until the time comes for the awakening of the Book of Hei Lang."

"Hie Lang?" Tomoyo asked.

Yue smiled at her coolly and cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"The Flower knows what is going on, you'll be able to ask her now," Yue sighed, "Right now the important thing is for you to know about your role in what is to come. Your destiny is at hand and you have a treacherous road to walk."

"Does that mean I shouldn't be wearing these shoes?" Tomoyo asked looking down at the expensive high-heels she wore.

When she looked up, she was surprised to see the cold look on the guardian's face. For some strange reason, it reminded her of a schoolteacher eyeing a disobedient student threateningly. When Yue was sure Tomoyo was quiet, he continued in his calm and refined voice.

"The talisman and books that were entrusted in my care are in hiding to ensure that none except for the chosen Angel can find them," Yue continued, "The time for their finding is at hand but only the one who is worthy can wield such awesome power."

Yue eyed her coldly.

"Are you willing to except my challenge?"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Meiling gulped as Ruby Moon tickled her exposed throat with the tip of her deadly blade.

"You just can't win," she jeered as Meiling glared at her furiously.

"I can and I will," the Angel snarled back defiantly, "Watch me."

"And pray tell how are you going to achieve this?" Ruby Moon asked with an arched eyebrow, "Seeing as you are down and pinned? Which knight in shining armour is going to rescue you?"

"Well, technically, it isn't going to be the knight in shining armour," an impish voice said from somewhere above them.

"Try Clow cards in shining armour," another voice suggested.

Before Ruby Moon could react a huge blast of gale force wind swept her off her feet as something equivalent to a swimming pool full of water came crashing down onto her from above. Meiling staggered to her feet and smiled wearily at her rescuers.

"Thanks," she murmured as the Windy nodded with a small smile on her face.

"Damn, that felt good," the Watery card said from the ridge above, her tiny voice amplified by the echoing of the volcano walls, "Can I do that again?"

"No fair," Ruby Moon snarled as she slowly got up, her clothes and hair dripping water onto the volcano floor, which immediately sizzled and evaporated into fine steam.

"Oh boo-hoo," Meiling snarled, "You're all powerful and you can't defeat little old me?"

Ruby Moon snarled at her and lunged forwards. Meiling's sword came up in time to deflect Ruby Moon's blade away as she twisted her body to avoid the haymaker Ruby Moon threw at her.

"Stand still!" Ruby Moon roared as Meiling ducked nimbly, her arms a blur as she unleashed wave after wave of fancy blade work at the winged guardian.

Ruby Moon gritted her teeth biting back a yelp of pain as Meiling scored a vicious slash across the guardian's shoulder tearing fabric and skin alike.

"Oh, would you look at that," Meiling jeered sidestepping a thrust from Ruby Moon, "I really think that tear really makes your outfit look so much better. You know torn blood-soaked fabric really is the fashion of the year."

"Then try this on!" Ruby Moon snarled.

She clenched her fist and opened it spreading palms as a ball of pink energy gathered in it. From the depth of the pink, light something hard and shiny emerged as Ruby Moon smirked.

"Here catch!" she yelled hurling the pink crystal that had appeared at the Angel.

Meiling jumped backwards as crystal slammed into the earth and shattered hurling deadly chips of debris everywhere.

"Rapid fire!" Ruby Moon screamed losing all control and calmness as she held out her hands and a huge stream of pink crystal rained down onto the Angel.

Meiling shattered one crystal with a swipe of her sword but let out a low yell of pain as one ripped into her leg. Hitting the ground and rolling out of the line of fire, Meiling grimaced as pain shot out up her injured leg.

"Hey, magic. No fair," Meiling snapped.

"Boo-hoo," Ruby Moon growled back as she hurled another barrage of crystals at her.

"Now, now this isn't really fair," the Earthy observed from the ridge above them, "How about I even the odds?"

Green light burst from the emerald tiara the Clow card wore as Meiling blinked in surprise. The shattered crystal on the chips were bathed in green light as Ruby Moon stared at the debris in horror, slowly each piece of broken crystal rose into the air the green light throbbing ominously as Meiling grinned.

"Catch," she whispered as the Earthy flicked her fingers.

Ruby Moon was pelted with a giant solid wall of broken crystal pieces that shoved her violently back into the green barrier. Pinned to the energy wall, Ruby Moon tried to fight off the crystal attacks as Meiling smirked and allowed herself to taken a small break gulping in a few mouthfuls of heated air as she paced around the perimeters of the barrier waiting for the right chance to attack.

"You dare attack me?" Ruby Moon's voice roared from the flurry of pink crystal that savagely attacked her, "Take this!"

Before anybody could react, a huge blast of crimson energy burst from within the wave the crystal chips and punched through the roof of the green dome. Meiling stared in horror as the energy rocket up to the roof of the volcanic chamber slammed into the roof and reflected off the hard surface.

The Earthy was caught unaware as the crimson energy came crashing down onto her. The Watery let out a shrill shriek as the card collapsed. The two other cards in the dome with Meiling stared in horror as the green dome flickered allowing the lava to seep in throw some of the cracks in the barrier.

"Get her out of there!" the Watery roared.

Fiery and Windy took flight racing straight for Meiling as Ruby Moon unleashed another blast of crimson energy reducing the crystal chips that still attack her to liquid sludge. Growling viciously, Ruby Moon aimed her next attack at Meiling but was too late to catch the Angel as Fiery and Windy grabbed the Angel's arms. With one powerful pump of their wings, they soared above the ground as the green barrier flickered again disappearing altogether.

Ruby Moon roared in fury and took flight after the fleeing Angel as magma reclaimed the patch of rock that was rightfully theirs.

"She's coming!" Watery shrieked.

"YOU THINK?!" Fiery roared back at its counterpart.

"Stop her!" Windy commanded as Meiling watched the fast approaching guardian anxiously knowing that she was helpless like this.

A wave of water knocked Ruby Moon off flight as the Watery mounted its attack. The wave of water split up twisting into long tendrils as they veered away from the rocky walls to charge after Ruby Moon again. The guardian clacked her teeth together in frustration she sliced one tendril in half only to have three other tendrils grab her into their watery embrace.

Flapping her huge wings violently, she shredded the tendrils as Watery hurled more ropes of water at her.

Meiling let out a low sigh of relief as she touched down gently onto the ridge. Fiery and Windy let go of her as Watery continued to pelt Ruby Moon with tendrils of water.

"DAMN YOU! FIGHT ME!" Ruby Moon roared before a small wave of water slap her in the mouth silencing her.

Meiling scrambled around for a weapon, seeing a jagged rock lying on the ridge she knelt down and picked it up throwing it and catching it experimentally to test its weight.

It would do.

"PLAY BALL!" Meiling yelled suddenly her whole body moving into the pose similar to a baseball pitcher before he throws the ball.

Meiling hurled the rock with all her might as the Windy pursed her lips and blew gently adding the strength of the wind behind the rock causing it to rocket through the air.

Ruby Moon broke through another tendril of water as she whirled around to back at Meiling again. She had no time to react as the rock whistled through the air and slammed into her delicate butterfly-like left wing. The guardian let out a loud scream of pain as the rock punched through the wing creating jagged hole.

"No!" she screamed as she stared at the gaping wound.

She flapped her wings desperately as she began dropping. Another wave of water sent her spiralling downwards as the Watery giggled and began pounding the guardian with her full arsenal.

"NOOOOOOO!!" Ruby Moon let out one last shriek before falling into the seething sea of lava.

There was a loud hiss as she touched the motel rock. For a few seconds she seemed to float above the lava before sinking into the burning mass. Meiling let out a low sigh as she turned to the Elementals.

"What happens now?" Meiling asked with a small grin as the cards stared back at her.

"You have won," the Windy began, "The talisman is r..."

Below them the lava erupted.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

Sheltered by impossibly thick vines and branches, Marcus hugged his daughter tightly as bullet whistled through the air and slamming into the vines never able to pierce through the wood itself.

There was a shout of surprise as the Sand appeared and gestured causing a huge wave of sand to manifest itself from thin air and burying the guards beneath a tonne of silt.

"Hurry!" the Wood gestured as she waved her hands.

More vines burst from the from the ground shattering pipes and concrete as it grew, it formed another tunnel of living wood as Marcus dashed down the hallway carrying his daughter Lily, which was staring at the vines in fascination

"Pretty," she commented as the Wood card smile at the girl and gestured causing violet flowers to sprout from the vines.

Lily giggled as Marcus smiled at the Wood.

"Thank you," he said sincerely.

"Thank me when we get out of here," the card retorted as the Sand dispatched another group of guards by causing the ground beneath them to turn into quicksand.

Another platoon of guards appeared from around the corner startling the Wood and Marcus.

"FREEZE!" one of them yelled as they all levelled their guns at them.

The Wood waved her hands as the ground beneath the guards bulged. Several of them stumbled forwards as suddenly a huge oak tree burst forth punching through concrete and wood as it continued to grow shattering the ceiling above. Another wave of the mystical wood sprite's hand caused huge vines to grow onto the ceiling, the vines tightened their grip crushing concrete into huge broken slabs before disappearing. Debris and dust rained down onto the guards, their forms disappearing under the onslaught of concrete and twisted metal. Marcus stared at the wreckage as the Wood tugged his arm directing down another corridor.

It was absolutely mayhem, wave after wave of guards appeared only to be ruthless mowed down by the awesome might of living plants or by floors and walls that dissolved into quicksand with a wave of the Sand card's hands.

Marcus ran into a dead-end as he pounded helplessly against the hard metal door that blocked the exit.

"Damn!" he growled as the Wood was somewhat distracted by another group of heavily armed guards.

Suddenly the Sand appeared beside him seemingly emerging from the ground as a tower of sand before slowly transforming into the mysterious silent woman Marcus was now used to seeing. She pointed at the door as the concrete walls around it dissolved into the dust.

"CLANG!"

Without any support, the metal door fell backwards making a loud noise as metal slapped against concrete. Before the guards on the other side could react, the Sand gestured conjuring a sandy tempest that flung the guards aside.

Marcus ran down the hallway jumping over the prone bodies of the downed guards as the Wood sealed the gaping hole behind them with a living wall of vines and leafy branches.

"Quick!" she commanded, "The exit's that way."

Bullets slammed into the wall from some unknown source, as Marcus ducked hurriedly not allowing himself to slow down as he headed towards the door the Wood card had indicated.

Behind him, the guards who had fired screamed as thorny vines suddenly sprang into life acting like live whips thrashing the guard thoroughly.

A guard appeared from a shadowy hallway only to bulldoze down as Marcus charged past.

"What the hell?" the guard snarled as he was shoved down onto the cold concrete.

His hand flew to the trigger of his gun only to find the weapon was yanked from his grip by a long flourishing vine that sprouted violet flowers. Another vine burst from the ground and wrapped itself around the guard's waist crushing him to the floor as Marcus made it to the door.

Another burst of magic from the Sand card caused the walls to dissolve into sand as Marcus ran into the night and freedom.

Once again sealing the hole behind him with a living wall, the Wood appeared beside him.

"Good, you're safe," she whispered sounding slightly out of breath.

Marcus stared in fascination at the state of the immense building he had been held in. As far as he could see no windows were left intact as vines clung to the walls sending out green tendrils that quickly developed into mature crushing plants. Even the grass on the lawn he was standing on was almost up to his knee as the Wood smiled at him.

"Nice job, isn't it?" the card asked, "I quite like it. Not bad considering I haven't used my magic in centuries."

"Centuries?" Lily asked curiously, "What's that daddy?"

Marcus remained silent as he looked around.

"Where's Sand?" he asked, "Didn't she mak..."

The Wood laughed.

"Don't worry I think she's gone to have a talk with Mallus," the Wood smirked at Marcus, "I don't think you have to worry about him anymore."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Mallus jumped as gunshots rang in corridor just outside his room. They fell silent as Mallus dashed to his door and flung it open.

"What the hell is go..." he began.

A huge wave of golden sand swept him off his feet as silt flew into his eyes blinding him. His mouth was filled with the stuff as he choked on it. His back slammed into a wall as all fell silent.

Slowly staggering to his feet, Mallus spat out the sand in his mouth and blinked furiously clearing his vision as he looked at the huge pile of sand standing in his room in shock.

"What the hell?" he growled.

He fell silent as a shadow fell onto the pile of sand.

"Who are you?" he snarled as he looked up and stared into the pale face of the woman that stood before.

Studying her clothing, Mallus guessed she was of Arabian descendant.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he snarled spitting at the silent woman.

Before more curses could be flung from his bitter mouth, the woman held out her hands cutting him off.

"You shouldn't live," the woman spoke for the first time.

Mallus cringed at her voice. It sounded like the shriek of a sandstorm as it vented its rage on the earth, it sounded like the silent hissing of sand running across hard rock, it sounded like the clacking of a scorpion's claws and the sound of a rattle snake's warning rattle. It was filled with power that he had never heard before.

"What?" he snarled finally plucking the courage to speak, "Who..."

A handful of sand slapped against his chest sending him sprawling as the woman took a calm step forwards.

"I have seen what you have wrought with your own hands. The blood that stains your skin, the horror and fear you have wreaked upon others," the woman's voice was barely above a whisper but Mallus could hear it perfectly as though she was yelling at him, "You have sold your soul to the devil and have turned your back to all that is good and pure. The families that have wept because of your evils; the graves that have been filled because of your dealings. You don't deserve to live."

"What..."

"I am your judge," the woman continued, "Your juror and your executioner. The world cries for your death and you shall be punished."

The woman flung her hand outwards as Mallus let out a hoarse cry of surprise. The ground beneath him shook dangerously as he clutched feebly at the slick walls of his bedroom. The hard tiles dissolved into sludgy sand as it sucked hungrily at his legs pulling him down, down into gaping maw of the quicksand.

"You. Don't. Deserve. To. Live," the woman said slowly as the sand reached up to Mallus's shoulders.

"Wait!" he cried, "What do you want? Money? I'll give it to you! No matter how much, I'll give it! One million, two million!"

"I just want your death," the woman said softly as the sand reached up to his neck.

"NO! PLEASE! NO!!"

On and on, the pleading and screams continued as the Sand turned a deaf ear to his struggles finally as his head sank beneath sucking sands all fell silent. The card snapped her fingers and the quicksand rumbled before changing back to the hard tiled floor it had been before.

The Sand turned her back to the carnage she had wrought and walked away.

It had been done.

Mallus was dead.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Eriol's jaws dropped in shock as he pulled up.

"No. No. No," he whispered staring at the sight before him in stunned horror.

The ambulance that was supposed to take Tomoyo to the hospital stood silent in the middle of the road. Its blaring siren and flashing lights were still on but the doors were flung upon and all were empty.

Eriol's eyes travelled down to the ground and saw the medics lying on the ground, their bodies scored with long cuts that still bleed sluggishly. He stared back at the ambulance and the gaping void inside.

Tomoyo.. she was gone.

Eriol closed his eyes and gritted his teeth trying to control the fury that burned inside of him.

"Rika..." he hissed, "Damn you!"

Rika was going to pay.

She was going down.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

The whole chamber shook as huge waves of magma slapped the chamber walls.

"What the?" Meiling growled.

From the maelstrom of fire and magma, a single figure rose from the fiery depths of the volcano.

Ruby Moon.

"What the hell?!" Meiling wailed, "How many times do I have to kill you?"

"Well done, Fighter," Ruby Moon said calmly as she winged her way slowly to them, "You have passed my challenge. You have defeated me and you have rightfully earned the right to wield the talisman of the Earth: the sword of Ruby Moon and the power it possesses."

Meiling stared at the guardian in shock as she landed lightly on the ridge in front of her.

"Use the weapon well," Ruby Moon said calmly her eyes showing none of the feral rage it had possessed when she and Meiling had been duelling, "For this weapon like any can be used against you. Wield it with a purpose that is pure and a heart that is filled with love and compassion."

"Where is the third book?" Meiling demanded asking that question that had been plaguing the Angels, "Where is Sakura? What's happened to her?"

"Those questions are not for me to answer," Ruby Moon said calmly, "My role in the events that is to happen are almost over. But I tell you this Fighter, the challenge of Yue is about to being."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Tomoyo stared at the guardian.

"Okay... very dramatic..." Tomoyo said slowly, "Do I really have a choice here?"

Yue stared at her calmly as Tomoyo sighed.

"Because of that twisted prophecy thing, I have to say I can't refuse," Tomoyo said slowly eyeing Yue suspiciously.

"So do you accept?" Yue asked urging her quietly.

Tomoyo nodded.

"Yes."

"Then let my champion be find and my challenge begin. You have to compete with her to find the resting place of my talisman, the mirror and the book of Yue Gong Jian Shou," Yue said dramatically as he raised his hands, "From this point on, my challenge begins!"

Yue clenched his fist as bright white light seeped from the gaps in between his long graceful fingers. With out another word, Yue opened his hands revealing the ball of white energy that had gathered in his hands.

"Come forth my champion!" he cried flinging the ball into the sky.

Tomoyo stared up at the ball as it rocketed off into a different direction. She slowly turned back to Yue.

"What the hell just happened?" she demanded.

Yue smiled at her mysteriously.

"My challenge begins."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Sakura ignored the Kerberos's major panic attack as the Light wringed her fingers and ranted for possibly the umpteenth time today. But then again, it was really hard to tell how long she had spent in here: it could be a few seconds, a few centuries. Sakura sighed and realised that was one of the problems that were facing her.

Okay, Sakura prioritise her mind ordered.

Number 1: Shut Kerberos up.

Number 2: Get the hell out of here.

Easier said than done. Suddenly Kerberos and the Light card fell silent. Well, Number 1 of her list was done.

"Hey guys," Sakura spoke up not looking at them, "Do you know any other way for me to get out of here?

Silence.

"Hello?" Sakura turned to stare at the two magical creatures and were shocked to see the stunned looks on their faces, "Hello? Is something wrong? Wha..."

Suddenly with no warning at all, a huge ball of white light came crashing down from the sky. Sakura had no time to dodge it as the energy seared her body. The energy seemed to be soaking into her skin, racing down her veins as Sakura opened her mouth in a silent scream.

"BANG!"

The ball of light exploded hurling Sakura aside as she landed heavily onto the mist-filled floor of the limbo.

"Flower?" the Light asked worriedly, "Are you all right? Flower? Flower?"

"I'm fine," Sakura said slowly staggering to her feet, "What the hell..."

"I'm fine," another voice said from behind her.

Sakura whirled around and stared into a pair of familiar emerald eyes. Auburn hair, the small familiar smirk on the other girl's face, the way she stood, the clothes she wore, the way she held herself... Sakura's mind raced as she tried to process what she was seeing.

"Hello me," the other Sakura smirked at her.

Kerberos and the Light stared at the two Sakuras as they too tried to figure out what was going on.

"What the?"

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

HAHAHAHAHA!! CLIFFHANGER... again! Sorry for the massive delays but back to school and it has been busy but here it is the latest chapter to Syaroan's Angels!

Next chapter:

As Eriol tracks down Rika who has Tomoyo, Meiling learns a little about the mirror and the mysterious third book. A happy reunion takes place as she returned him to find Marcus and Lily are back and perfectly fine. See what happens when Lily calls her mommy for the first time. Meanwhile Sakura faces off against the other Sakura as the mysterious origins of her twin is revealed. Who is other Sakura? And what is she? Find out in... _Doppelganger_

A/Notes: Sorry about the massive delays and thanks for all the wonderful reviews but I'm back and I'll try to update at least once a month or something.

Okay two things I have to deal with here:

No. 1: The end of Syaoran's Angels is fast approaching and I've got two ideas for a spin-off. One of them will be of course the sequel to this story but the other one will probably be a prequel titled: Syaoran's Angels: The Beginning, concentrating on how the Angels first met and how their personalities clashed.

Should I write these stories? Please tell me your thoughts in your review!

And secondly, I've noticed there's been a drop in the reviews that's coming in. Is nobody reading this fic? What happened to all my reviews (ms. evil, sakura lova etc.) where are you?! If nobody is interested in this fic, I won't continue. Simple as that, I've got homework and stuff and I don't want to waste my time on something no one reads.

So please, review! If there isn't a pick-up in reviews, I'll discontinue this fic.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!


	23. Doppelganger

Thank you for all your lovely reviews! It means a lot to me so THANKS!

Please, please, please review.

Disclaimer: you know the drill

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 22: Doppelganger **

Sakura whirled around and stared into a pair of familiar emerald eyes. Auburn hair, the small familiar smirk on the other girl's face, the way she stood, the clothes she wore, the way she held herself... Sakura's mind raced as she tried to process what she was seeing.

"Hello me," the other Sakura smirked at her.

Kerberos and the Light stared at the two Sakuras as they too tried to figure out what was going on.

"What the?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"What the?"

"Well is this nice and cosy?" the other Sakura sneered looking around, "Can't say much about the decoration though. This place will look really good with a few dead corpses hanging around. Blood always makes a place look nice."

"Who the hell are you?" Sakura gaped at her counterpart.

The other Sakura smirked at her.

"I'm Yue's champion."

There were more gasps from the two guardians but before Sakura ask them any questions, the other Sakura threw a punch at her.

"Awww... too bad," Sakura jeered nimbly ducking the blow, "You missed. Too slow!"

"Dodge this," her doppelganger snarled.

"CRACK!"

Sakura's head snapped back painfully when the other girl landed a vicious kick to her chin. Grasping her throbbing chin carefully, Sakura scowled at her attacker.

"Think you're good?" she spat.

Her counterpart merely smiled.

"I know I'm good," she boasted.

Sakura didn't even bother to reply as she slammed the girl in the chest with two open palms. Her doppelganger was sent flying as Sakura smirked and grabbed her arm twisting it behind her back and holding her in a chokehold.

"Okay, now this is how this game goes," Sakura whispered in the other girl's ears, "I ask questions and you better answer me. Fast."

"I've got another idea," her doppelganger spat, "How about you go to hell?"

With more strength than Sakura had first suspected, her counterpart broke from of her grip and punished her with a spin-kick that landed solidly in her stomach. All the air was driven out of Sakura's body with a loud 'whoosh' as her doppelganger smirked and snapped a one-two kick to her chest. Becoming overconfident, she tried to do it again only to have Sakura grab her foot and throw her off her balance.

The Light gasped in shock as the other Sakura managed to execute a graceful flip and land daintily on her own two feet.

"Nice try," she acknowledged with a small smirk.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her as her counterpart stood perfectly still, her dark emerald eyes focused purely her opponent.

"You know what's the different between you and me?" her doppelganger said suddenly, "I know I was created from you and look like you but there's a difference."

When Sakura didn't answer, her counterpart sent her a lazy smile and answered her question.

"I'm a thousand-times stronger."

And with that she bound across the misty ground and before Sakura could react landed a vicious karate chop on her neck. Sakura felt like her spine had snapped as her doppelganger smirked and leapt into the air. Suddenly her feet shot out kicking Sakura in the chest shoving the Angel violently back as she went into a perfect flip and landed with Olympian grace.

"But you know what they say," Sakura spat back, "Nothing's better than the original."

She charged at her doppelganger feinting to the right as her counterpart threw all her defences to her left, Sakura snaked in under her defences and punished her vulnerable unprotected side with a barrage of punches and kicks, all her blows landing on all the pressure and tender points dealing out as many damage as possible. With a fierce cry, Sakura sent her flying with a kick to the kidney eliciting a yelp of pain from her sadistic rival.

"Damn," her doppelganger got up slowly as a small trickle of blood forced its way out of her swollen lips meandering down her chin, "That hurt."

Sakura waited calmly, her senses on high alert and her body ready as the doppelganger smirked.

"Well, it was fun and all but what do you know? Time flies when you're having fun."

Sakura's eyes widened as white light suddenly burst from her doppelganger's skin.

"Time to fly," she smirked as the light began engulfing her body.

"NOOOO!!" Sakura lunged at the glowing figure as Kerberos and the Light let out shouts of dismay and protests.

Sakura felt ready than saw her body hit something solid as white light flared blinding her as her sense of direction and orientation began going crazy. The world around her swirled and blurred as Sakura gave in to her body's demands and let darkness claim her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"What? Challenge?!" Meiling exploded as Ruby Moon smiled at her.

"Time for you to leave my domain," she said calmly ignoring the Angel's spluttering protest, "I believe that Wood and Sand have good news for you back home."

Ruby Moon fell silent before speaking again, this time each word was filled with deep emotions.

"You are a worth guardian of the book and talisman. A woman of honour, courage and great passion, follow your heart and ignore the corruptions that thrive in this world. Remain true to your beliefs and your heart and you shall go far. You have my blessing, Fighter. Do not fail in you destiny for much depends on you and your friends. The time for the end is nigh; the world hangs in the balance. Fight with honour and hope and you shall win."

As Ruby Moon finished off her speech, she held out her hands and a ball of crimson energy gathered in her outstretched palms.

"Good luck and remember the cards are on your side!" And with that she hurled the ball of energy at Meiling.

Before the Angel could react, crimson light washed over her body and the next thing she knew she was standing in front of a familiar looking building.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Diana rushed down the hallway of the hospital, her usually neat and tidy clothing crinkled and messy. Running her hands through her wild hair distractedly, Diana wondered why Chelsea had called her. It was three in the morning for crying out loud! Reminding herself that her friend need her support, Diana stopped in front of one of the doors lining the corridor and took a deep breath.

She knocked gently.

"Come in!" a familiar voice said cheerfully.

Diana Armstrong opened the door and stared at the scene that greeted her. A beaming Chelsea, something she had not seen in the last few days, rushed towards her sweeping her up in a huge warm hug as Diana stood stock-still staring at the person lying up in bed.

"Zachary?" she whispered feeling the blood draining from her face, "You... you... you're awake?"

And the award for 'Stating the most obvious' goes to... her mind muttered to her cynically.

"Yeah, I know this is kind of a surprise..." Zachary said slowly.

Diana felt Chelsea lead her to chair and she gratefully sat down trying to sort through her jumbled thoughts.

"What happened?" she asked directing her question as Chelsea.

The young woman shrugged helplessly.

"He just... woke up," she finished off lamely, "It's a miracle!"

Zachary nodded confirmation the fact.

"I wasn't given much of a chance of waking up," he said quietly obviously still not okay with the fact, "But I pulled through."

"Hey, do you know where Sakura is?" Chelsea asked concerned, "I tried ringing her tonight but nobody's home."

There was a small uncomfortable silence as Diana gulped remembering what Sakura had told her about her job and what she did for a living. Suddenly she was very afraid for her friend.

"Diana?" Chelsea asked.

Diana shook her head and forced her mind to concentrate on what was going on.

"I don't know where she is," the lawyer said slowly.

There was another silence as Diana looked around the room until her eyes finally fell upon the many cards and flowers lying on a nearby beside table.

"How are these from?" she asked curiously moving over to them.

"Oh, family... friends from work. You know Spinnel Corporation? They've been really good, they've covered for the costs and everything," Zachary said enthusiastically his love for his job obvious in his eyes.

Diana tried to hide her discomfort again as she remember what Sakura had told her about Zachary's company.

How can she break it to him?

Diana pasted a fake smile on her face and just allowed herself to enjoy the fact that her one of her best friends was alive and healthy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Marcus must have fallen unconscious as some point because the next thing he knew he was inside a strange room lying on a soft bed.

"Hello? Anyone? Where am I?" he called out loudly, "Where's my daughter?"

A door opened as a uniformed woman came into view.

"You're awake!" she said cheerfully, "You're in the Royal Los Angeles Hospital. It was very strange you and... I presume your daughter?"

Marcus nodded.

"Appeared inside our emergency ward just out of nowhere! You had lost a quite a large amount of blood but you're fine now. Just plenty of rest and you'll be rest as rain," the nurse concluded her story.

"My daughter? Where is she?" Marcus asked hurriedly.

"She's fine, just getting quick check up right now. Now, you'll need to rest. As soon as the doctors are finish with her I'll send her in," the nurse said calmly, "Okay?"

"Thank you," Marcus said faintly as the nurse nodded and left.

Marcus lay back onto the bed and tried to go to sleep but he was too worried. His daughter was fine but what about Meiling? And who were those women who had saved him and Lily.

What happened to them?

And what happened to Mallus?  
As those thoughts cycled over and over again inside his mind, tiredness overwhelmed him and he drifted to sleep.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling moaned as she gently touched one of the bruises she had received from her ordeal with Ruby Moon. Glancing down at the rest of her body, she could see the rest of her wasn't better off either. Looking up at the hospital and shoving down her dislike for them, she decided she need to get some help before some of these wounds became infected.

Suddenly she remembered something Ruby Moon had said.

_'Wood and Sand has some good news for you.'_

Meiling felt her body freeze.

Marcus!

Lily!  
Glancing down at the sword she still held in her hands, Meiling sighed and wondered what she would do with it. Slowly her mind began working again, this was the talisman of the second book and the second book was supposed to contain the Elemental cards as well as Wood and Sand. So if the talisman was connected to the book than maybe she could call upon the cards again.

Feeling slightly stupid doing it, Meiling held up her sword and called into the night.

"Wood? Sand? Watery? Windy? Earthy?"

No answer. Meiling sighed and called upon her less favourite card.

"Fiery?"

"So of course I was the last one," a familiar voice muttered from the shadows.

"Shut up," another voice growled.

"Yes, mistress?" the Wood emerged from the ground as a giant budding sunflower. Slowly the emerald green bud burst open revealing bright yellow petals and in the centre where the brown pollen should've been was Wood's calm, green face.

"Marcus? Lily? Where are they?"

"They're inside," Windy said calmly not actually appearing but Meiling could hear her voice on the winds.

A bright grin appeared on Meiling's face as she began sprinting for the hospital door.

"Umm.. Fighter?" Fiery's voice said from the shadows.

From some weird reason none of the cards were showing themselves in their true form.

"What?" Meiling scowled.

"Sword."

"Oh," Meiling stared down at the blade and knew she couldn't very well bring it into the hospital, "What do I do?"

"Repeat after me," Earthy's voice rumbled from the ground, "Sword of Earth, Hide your true form before me. I mistress, Meiling command you. Change!"

Meiling quickly mumbled the words stumbling over the unfamiliar phrasing as red light burst from the sword's ruby. Meiling was shocked to feel the sword suddenly become lighter and began changing shape.

"Cool," Meiling whistled as she stared at the small gold bracelet that rested inside her palms.

A small golden butterfly with rubies dotting its wings dangled from the chain as Meiling slipped it on.

"Thanks," she called to the shadows as the Wood slipped back into the earth.

Turning back to the hospital, she briskly walked towards the door and pushed it open.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Yue smiled mysteriously at her as Tomoyo stared at the mystical guardian.

"What did you do?" she demanded.

"You'll find soon enough," Yue said calmly, "But for now we have to deal with you."

"Deal with me?!" Tomoyo scowled, "What the hell do you mean?"

In response, the angelic man arched his pale eyebrow delicately as a small smile appeared on his usually emotionless face.

"How can you fulfil your destiny if you are trapped in limbo?" he asked, "It's time for you to return to the real world."

Before Tomoyo could react, something appeared in Yue's hand.

"Through!" Yue commanded seemingly talking to the thing that was hidden by his long fingers, "Take her from here and put her back where she belongs! Release and dispel!"

Focusing on the thing, Tomoyo realised it was card. To her stunned surprise, the card glowed brightly as something burst from its surface. A semi-transparent woman flew straight for the Angel and before the Japanese Angel could react, the woman slammed into her chest. Tomoyo took a step backwards expecting to feel an impact of some sort but to her surprise she felt nothing only a faint coldness. Looking down, Tomoyo's jaws dropped seeing the woman's spectral body superimposed over her own chest, part of the mysterious woman's body seemingly disappearing through her now. Numbness invaded her body as Yue watched her calmly with icy blue eyes.

"What..." Tomoyo managed to say before her whole body froze and her vision darkened.

She had the distinct feeling she was moving somehow but all her senses were dulled and lifeless. Suddenly feeling once again swept through her body.

Tomoyo opened her eyes slowly and looked around.

"That was freaky," she murmured softy as she tried to move her arms.

She was shocked to feel that they were bound behind her back somehow.

"What the hell?" Tomoyo looked up.

Only to find a pair of emotionless brown eyes peering down at her.

"Rika."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura's eyes snapped open.

"Oowwww..." she moaned as she felt every single part of her body throb with pain.

She slowly tried to force her body to sit up as she studied her surroundings. She seemed to be in a hospital of some kind judging by the faint anaesthetic and medicine smell that permeated through the air. The other already-made beds lining the ward were a big tip-off.

"Hello? Nurse?" Sakura looked around and seeing an alert button nearby she punched in the button the waited.

Okay, so she was in a hospital. Didn't Kerberos tell her the key had helped her somehow after Lara had thrown her through the window and in the sea? She had obviously been badly beaten judging by the bruises and cuts highlighted by the bright fluorescent light overhead.

"You're awake!" a nurse appeared through a door and stared at her in surprise.

Sakura blinked at her.

"Yeah..." she trailed off, "Where am I?"

The nurse took a deep breath and steadied herself whilst her dark eyes continued to study the American Angel.

"You're in Santa Barbara Hospital. We find you in the carpark... you were in a coma... we put you here in this ward... we didn't expect you to wake up," the nurse stammered the story out as Sakura closed her eyes and remembered everything that had happen to her in the limbo.

Her mother...

Kerberos...

Clow Reed's story...

The Light card...

The Void card...

The fourth book...

Her doppelganger!

"Uh oh..." Sakura whispered, "Umm... this may sound strange but can I get out of here... like... now?"

The nurse stared at her.

"I'm sorry but I can't let you. The doctors have to sign you out and check you up. You may have had permanent damage..."

Sakura sighed as her hand slowly crept up to the Star key, which still hung around her neck. At least that was still there.

"You will allow me to go," Sakura said softly, her voice charged with power as the key began glowing brightly again, "You will allow me to go and forget I was ever here. Everybody will forget I was here."

Gold light burst from the key and washed over the paralysed nurse and flooded all the other rooms of the hospital. When the nurse finally emerged from her trance-like state, all the beds inside the ward were empty.

The nurse blinked and looked around.

"Why am I here?" she asked to no one in particular before turning around and leaving.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Well, this is a busy night," the friendly nurse chatted to Meiling cheerfully as she led her to the check-up rooms, "First a man woke up from a coma and then two other people arrived here mysteriously..."

Meiling stopped in her track as the nurse turned to her curiously.

"Two people?" Meiling asked her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, a father and his daughter."

Meiling's hand snaked forwards and grabbed the nurse's arm tightly.

"Can I see them?" she whispered, "Now? I... kinda know them."

The nurse was hesitant at first but then she changed her mind and shrugged.

"Why not?" she said cheerfully, "The man's asleep but his daughter's in the child ward."

The nurse led her down several long brightly lit hallways before pushing open a set of glass doors. Inside there, the walls were lined with many brightly coloured drawings and paintings. Meiling's eyes were drawn to the cheerful posters of cartoon characters dotted the walls as the nurse led Meiling to another room and pushed it open.

Inside a small blonde-haired girl with bright blue eyes were playing with an old battered teddy bear that had obviously seen better days.

"Lily?" Meiling called softly.

The girl's head immediately snapped up.

"Mommy!" the girl shrieked before jumping off her bed and rushing to Meiling's arms.

Meiling was stunned at what Lily had called her but recovered in time to hug the small girl tightly.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered into the little girl's ears

The nurse left them allowing them to enjoy a happy reunion.

"What's your daddy?" Meiling asked Lily softly.

Lily shrugged before launching into a confusion tirade of sentences.

"I was so scared and so was daddy I think... he's hurt... then the bad man who stole me before came again and we were in this dark room... then this green woman and her quiet friend appeared... they broke the door and then... Bang! Bang! Bang!... it was sooooo noisy... then... then... then..." Lily took a deep breath as Meiling laughed.

"Whoa! Calm down and breathe," she teased, "Come on let's try and find your daddy, okay?"

Lily nodded as Meiling lifted her up in her arms as the little girl wrapped her arms around the Angel's neck. Anybody looking at them would've thought that Meiling was her mother as they left the room eagerly searching for their loved one.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Eriol stared at the man standing across from him calmly.

"Where?" he said coldly.

"I swear I don't know!" the man cried as Eriol narrowed his icy eyes at him.

"I don't like liar," the assassin said ruthlessly as he calmly withdrew a gun from his pocket and aimed at the cowering man.

"No! Please! No!"

"BANG!"

Eriol pulled the trigger as the man tumbled to the ground screaming as he fell. The bullet shrieked through the air ripping through his leg as Eriol eyed him coldly.

"Where is she? Where is Rika?"

The man merely sobbed and clutched his leg tightly as writhed on the ground in pain. Eriol sighed, a loud mechanical click filled the air as he cocked the gun's hammer.

"BANG!"

Another shriek of pain filled the air as a second bullet ripped through the man's uninjured leg.

"Please, please, please..." the man whimpered pathetically.

Eriol ruthlessly stamped down any emotions that appeared on his face as he kept up his cool façade even allowing a small sadistic grin to appear on his face.

"I don't want to hurt you," Eriol cooed, "But I hate people who don't tell the truth. Just tell the truth and I'll make it all better."

"Leave me alone..." the man shrieked.

Eriol narrowed his eyes and expertly aimed the gun again.

"BANG!"

A third shot rang through the abandoned warehouse as the man's arm gave a wild spasm. Shrieking in pain, tears poured down the man's face as blood poured from the gaping wound in his arm.

"Come on," Eriol clucked his tongue as cocked the gun's hammer again, "We're running out of limbs here."

"I'll tell! I'll tell!" the man screamed, pain and stress causing his voice to become high-pitch.

"Good," Eriol slowly move his gun away as he continued to study the informant, "Where is Rika?"

"Promise me... promise me..." the man managed to gasp, "You'll let me go."

"If you tell me everything, I'll make sure nobody else would harm you," Eriol snapped his eyes chips of dark ice.

The man seemed to think about it before nodding slightly.

"Rika... she's... she's... hiding inside the steel refinery factory in downtown."

Eriol glared at the man.

"But that's been burnt down to the ground for months," he growled, "Don't try and mess..."

"No! No! Yes, the factory's burnt to the ground but there's an underground storage area that still intact!"

Eriol took a deep breath and allowed his body to relax.

"Can you call an ambulance?" the man whimpered, "I swear I won't betray you! I swear!"

Eriol sighed and aimed his gun at him. The man's eyes bulged as he began to panic.

"But you promised me you won't hurt me!!" he wailed desperately.

"Actually I promised that nobody else would," Eriol said calmly as he fired.

Blood splattered on the walls as the bullet shattered the man's skull.

"See, nobody else would ever hurt you again," the cold-blooded assassin smirked as he turned around and walked off into the night.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Key of stars with powers burning bright,

Reveal the staff and shine your light,  
RELEASE!"

The key spun around crazily inside the sphere of light floating above Sakura's hand as the American Angel stared at the magical talisman intently. In a bright flare of white light, the key transformed into the pink and gold Star wand as Sakura grabbed it and twirled it expertly above her head.

"CLOW CARDS TO ME!" she bellowed filling power fill every single cell inside her body.

A burst of gold light illuminated Sakura's dark surroundings as the Clow cards emerged from thin air and flew into Sakura's hands.

"FLY CARD!" Sakura commanded throwing the card onto the ground as the Light card in the limbo had shown her, "RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Glowing symbols appeared on the ground as Sakura whacked the card with the tip of her wand. A spinning vortex of white wind burst from the card as Sakura took a cautious step backwards.

"KREEEEE!!" a semi-transparent bird-like creature burst from the ground as Sakura stared at it wondering what it was doing.

"Fly card! Fly me back to Los Angeles!"

The Fly card let out another high-pitched screech as it lunged straight for Sakura. Sakura let out a surprised yelp as the semi-transparent card slammed into her body easily passing through it. Her whole body was bathed in white light as Sakura stared around wildly looking for the source of the light. She looked behind her and froze seeing a pair of dainty white-feathered wings sprouting from her back.

"What the?" Sakura gaped at the wings.

In response the wings gave a flurry of small flaps as Sakura stared them in surprise. Suddenly as if a door inside her mind had been opened, a river of information about flying flooded into her mind.

How to operate these wings...

How to fly at night...

How to catch the best thermals...

Sakura let out a joyous laugh and flapped her wings experimentally. To her surprise, they answered her response and she lifted several centimetres off the ground.

Suddenly remembering why she was in such a rush to go back to L.A., Sakura sobered up quickly and gave her wings one powerful pump and she was off soaring through the air.

With the wind whipping through her hair and wings, Sakura gave one loud whoop of joy and sped through the night winging towards the city of angels.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lilia knocked gently on the door and waited patiently for an answer.

"Come in," a gravely voice rumbled.

Taking a deep calming breath to steady her trembling body, Lilia pushed the door open and walked into the dark domain of her mysterious boss. As always, thick drapes hung over the windows and no lights were on. The only source of light was from the fiery-red end of a lit cigar, which her boss held in his hands.

Lilia counted herself lucky since she was one of the few people privileged enough ever to enter her boss's office but she had never seen his face. He hid his identity from her with darkness and shadows. She didn't even know his full name: he was just simply known as 'Mr Noir'.

"Yes, sir?" she asked almost timidly.

A puff of smoke poured into the air briefly dimming the burning red of the cigar tip. Lilia resisted the urge to cough as smoke poured into her lungs.

"I've been thinking..."

Lilia stiffened not liking the tone of her boss's voice.

"You know about Zachary Yamazaki?" Mr. Noir said after a few seconds pause.

Her body slowly began to relax as she let out an unwomanly snort.

"The fool that's working in one of the lower offices?" Lilia asked scornfully, "What about him?"

Mr. Noir chuckled as Lilia got a sinking feeling in her stomach. Every single part of her brain were screaming warnings at her, something was going to happen. Something she won't like at all.

"He's going to get promoted."

Lilia froze.

"What?!" she gasped, "But is he... I mean... coma... he in..."

"Yes, he was in a coma but my contacts have told me that he has just woken up several hours ago," Lilia held the distinct sound of a chair creaking as her boss leaned back into his, "You do realise that he has been a faithful employee of mine. And he is a hero of sorts around the office after the terrorist attack..."

"You mean those blasted Angel attacks," Lilia snapped.

Her boss merely chuckled.

"True," he agreed, "But my promoting Zachary it would show the rest of the employees that commitment to me would result in good benefits for them. It would make them work harder for me. That's why I'm promoting Zachary to poor Hayden's... vacant position."

Lilia wondered for possibly the millionth time if he knew about her involvement in her partner's death. Mentally she shrugged, if he knew he probably didn't care.

"His promotion is in effect as soon as he returns here," Mr. Noir continued, "You will do the necessary paperwork and fill him on what he has to do for the company. Understood."

Mutely, Lilia nodded.

"Good, dismiss."

As Lilia left the room, her heart and mind raged with anger.

"Damn it!" she hissed.

As soon as she had gotten rid of one rival another one pops up. She has to nip this one in the bud as soon as possible but Mr. Noir would be very displeased if she did it openly. This has to be handled delicately...

Lilia reached into the folds of her expensive suit jacket and pulled out a top of the rage mobile phone and punched in a quick series of numbers.

"Hello? It's me. I've got a job for you..."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Eriol casually got out of his car and walked towards the charred ruins of the factory. Blackened walls jutted out from the ground like broken tooths as slivers of metal not devoured by rust glimmered in the cold fire of the stars above. Eriol scanned the area expertly straining his eyes to look for the entrance of the underground storage facilities. Strolling through the wreckage not really caring as pieces of metal shrapnel bit into the leather of his expensive shoes, Eriol pressed on broken glass crunching underfoot as he searched the area.

Finally he spotted it, by some twist of fate a column of blackened concrete had remained behind after fire had ravaged the factory. Eriol's eyes traced the outline of an iron door set into the concrete as he slowly began moving towards it.

Gingerly he touched the rust-corroded handle jutting out from the door. Experimentally he pressed his weight against it. It shifted slightly; exerting more force he pushed it open slowly inch by inch wincing as a piercing screech rended through the air as metal scraped across hard concrete. Finally with one last mighty shove, it swung open revealing a crumbling staircase leading down into ominous shadows.

With a final check that his gun was rested in the holster on his belt, Eriol descended down into the darkness.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Marcus let out a low moan as his side gave a small spasm of pain, slowly and with great effort he finally managed to open his eyes.

"Lily, leave him alone," a familiar voice scolded gently, "I think your daddy needs to rest."

That made Marcus open his eyes.

"Meiling?" he gasped staring at the ruby-eyed woman.

"Marcus!" Meiling beamed at him, "You're awake."

"Wha... how?" Marcus took a deep breath, "I'm so glad to see you!"

Meiling sent him a small grin before leaning over and giving him a small kiss. Marcus deepened the kiss as Lily looked on interestedly.

"Who were those women?" Marcus demanded as soon as they broke the kiss.

Meiling stared at him for a few seconds before finally realising what he meant.

"Oh, you mean Wood and Sand," Meiling smiled nervously, "Kinda of a long story..."

"I've got time," Marcus said not letting her get off his easily.

"Shouldn't you be resting?"  
Marcus continued to stare at her, after a few seconds Meiling sighed.

"I only know bits and pieces of the story but apparently Sakura knows everything..." Meiling trailed off, "Aside from the fact that she's in a coma in Santa Barbara."

There was an uncomfortable silence as Marcus gaped at her. Meiling shrugged delicately.

"Apparently she's fine," Meiling sighed, "Okay, so this is what I know."

And Meiling began telling Marcus the legend of the three books of Clow.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

A burst of white light flooded the dark carpark illuminating every shadow as a figure appeared from the midst of the brightness.

"Let the challenge begin," Sakura's doppelganger smirked as she studied Los Angeles Hospital, "Ready or not, here I come."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura landed lightly in front of her apartment building and concentrated for a few seconds as the wings of her back melted into thin air. Glancing down at herself, she realised she was only wearing a thin hospital gown that was _not _keeping out the cold. Shivering slightly, she pondered for a few seconds if she should go up into her apartment.

"I wonder if a card can help me here," Sakura said aloud as she stared down at the cards in her hand.

Seeing one with a promising name, she pulled it out.

"Move card!" she called reading the name inscribed on the card, "Bring a set of my clothes to me! Release and dispel!"

Light burst from the card as she hit it with the Star wand from the centre of the light a pair of hot pink wings appeared fluttering in an invisible breeze as Sakura stared at the peculiar creature. It seemed to pause for a few seconds before disappearing, a few seconds later it reappeared again.

Sakura jumped in surprise were several articles of clothing fell from the sky and landed lightly on her hand. Before it could slide off her and hit the ground, Sakura grabbed it and stared at the familiar looking shirt and jeans.

"Thanks," she called to the pair of pink wings as she quickly changed.

After warming herself up, Sakura considered her next move. She needed to find her fellow Angels and quick.

They should be at Tomoyo's house but considering the craziness she had been put through she wasn't so sure and she needed to find out where her doppelganger had got to.

"Light card," she commanded, "Show yourself before me! Release and dispel!"

This time light seemed to slowly seep from the card chasing the shadows away as a searing warmth brushed against Sakura's skin. Slowly emerging from the light, a pair of calm golden eyes stared at her.

"Flower," the Light card greeted, "Lovely to see you back in the real world."

"Where's my doppelganger and where's Meiling and Tomoyo?"

The Light was silent for a few seconds before speaking up.

"Meiling is at Los Angeles Hospital with Marcus and Lily..."

"What's wrong are they alright?" Sakura asked concerned, "Why ar..."

"So is your friend Zachary, Diana and Chelsea," the Light added cutting Sakura off, "And so is unfortunately your doppelganger."

Sakura stared at the card.

"Damn!" she swore, "FLY CARD! GRANT ME YOUR WINGS!"

"Flower! Wait! It's folly to go af..."

"Release and dispel!"

Before the Light could speak again, Sakura was already flying full speed towards Los Angeles Hospital.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo felt sick, her body was numb for a few seconds before becoming alive with sensation a few seconds later. Over and over again, this cycle continued as Tomoyo's mind feebly fought against the darkness that threatened to overwhelm her.

Suddenly a piercing screech resounded through the dark room as Rika who had been silently standing guard over her suddenly burst into action springing behind a wall. Tomoyo could faintly hear the sound of shoes slapping against hard cold concrete, as Rika seemed to become more and more tense with each passing second.

Tomoyo tried one last desperate attempt to keep her eyes open but against her will, her eyes slammed shut and darkness claimed her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Eriol stepped off the final step and stood silent in the shadows, his senses on high alert.

His sharp eyes caught the faintest flash of light and he moved depending on instinct rather than his senses. Razor claws sliced through the air as Eriol neatly sidestepped the blow. Rika lashed at him again as Eriol grabbed her wrist and ruthlessly twisted it sharply.

Rika kicked him in the ribs as Eriol hissed in pain letting go of her arm. He punched her in the chest as his hands quickly flew to the holster on his belt. Before he could yank the gun out, Rika lunged at him again throwing him backwards as she elbowed him viciously in the stomach.

"Son of a..." Eriol growled as Rika advanced stalking him like a sleek dark panther stalking its prey.

She charged at him again as Eriol met her head-on as he bent at the waist head-butting her in the stomach. Rika let out a small gasp of pain as Eriol grabbed her arms and straightened throwing her clumsily over his shoulders. She landed heavily as Eriol whirled around and yanked the gun from his holster.

Rika continued to circle him as Eriol cocked the hammer and aimed.

"BANG!"

The clawed assassin lunged to the side and feinted to the right as Eriol fired again missing her. Blades flashed through the shadows as Eriol let out a shout of pain. Blood poured down from the vicious cuts down his arm as Eriol cursed loudly before managing to kick Rika away.

Rika came back with amazing agility kicking the gun from Eriol's hand as she delivered a snap-kick to his chest sending him stumbling backwards as he cursed loudly. Recovering quickly, Eriol shifted into a boxing stance bouncing lightly on his heels as he waited. Rika charged again as Eriol ducked weaving under her blow before delivering a punishing uppercut to her exposed chin. He followed up with haymaker that whacked her senseless across the head.

"Never mess with me," he growled as he continued to pummel her, "She's mine! Not yours or you damn sponsors!"

If Rika heard him she showed no signs as she tried to carve his stomach open only to have Eriol grab her arm and body-slam her. Rika tumbled to the ground as Eriol kicked her away before taking advantage of her dazed pain to search vainly for his gun.

His hand brushed against the cold metal of the barrel as Rika attacked again kicking him in the ribs. Eriol let out a gasp of pain as her foot found soft flesh, again and again her foot flashed down catching him in the same spot over and over again.

"Bitch!" he hissed as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

With one last powerful kick, Eriol was sent sprawling onto his back. Rika leapt at him, claws ready to slice him apart. Fighting back the river of pain that threatened to flood his senses, Eriol managed to finally grab his gun and brought it up with one smooth motion firing as he brought it to bear.

"BANG!"

A single bullet howled through the air slamming into the clawed assassin's side. The force of the blow sent Rika reeling from her trajectory as Eriol aimed blindly again and fired.

Rika fell to the ground as blood poured from the two wounds punched in her side. Eriol gasping for breath managed to finally stand up. Staring at Tomoyo who was lying bound and gagged on the floor, he ran over to her and shakily checked for her pulse.

It was there faint and slow but it was there. Eriol sagged with relief as he pulled a mobile phone from his pocket and called 911.

"Police?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura landed on the hard tar of the carpark as she looked around.

"Where the hell is she?" Sakura scowled.

The answer to her question came roaring from the darkness, Sakura was sent flying as her doppelganger burst from the shadows tackling her to the ground.

"Surprise!" she chirped as Sakura snarled at her and threw her off with a powerful kick.

Her doppelganger easily flipped onto her own two feet as Sakura eyed her wearily, her Star wand held tightly in her hands.

"Oooo... shiny," her doppelganger smirked staring at the wand held in her counterpart's hand, "Can I have it?"

"Go to hell," Sakura barked.

"That's mean," pseudo-Sakura pouted, "Don't you want to play."

"Play with this," Sakura smirked as she scanned through her cards.

Seeing a familiar card, Sakura pulled it out and held it up so her doppelganger could see it.

"Awww... there's no need to be _shocked,_" Sakura smirked staring at her counterpart who was eyeing the Clow card with bulging eyes.

"Noo..." her doppelganger gasped as Sakura hurled the card onto the ground.

"THUNDER CARD!" Sakura bellowed, "STRIKE MY DOPPELGANGER WITH YOUR BOLTS! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

The dark sky above lit up with cold blue light as skeins of crackling electricity jetted across the darkness of the night. The sky rumbled unleashing a barrage of hard rain as Sakura smirked at her doppelganger feeling the power of the storm flooding through her body.

"Strike," she whispered pointing at her enemy.

Pseudo-Sakura screamed in fury as huge bolts of lightning crashed down from the skies each deadly arrow of electricity aiming straight for her. She tried to run but was stopped dead in her tracks as the lightning came crashing down with deadly force. She was flung off her feet as thousands of volts of electricity flooded through her body, Sakura watched in stunned fascination as her doppelganger was sent flying through the door of the hospital with the force of the lightning shock.

Calmly calling the power of the Thunder card back to her, Sakura transformed the wand back to her key and walked calmly towards the ruined doors of the hospital ready to finish this once and for all.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lily clung tightly to Meiling as the night outside rumbled with thunder. Meiling told a shocked Marcus about her fight in the centre of Ruby Moon's volcano as he stared at her in shock.

"Are you okay?" he asked concerned pushing aside his surprise, "Are you hurt?"

Meiling smiled, touched, thanking god she had find someone who cared so much about her well-being.

"I'm fine just superficial wounds," Meiling reassured him.

"Shouldn't you be seeing a doctor?" Marcus asked her raising an eyebrow.

Meiling shrugged as Lily whimpered.

"Are you okay, honey?" Marcus asked his concern immediately focused on his trembling daughter.

"Storm," the young girl whimpered.

Meiling marvelled at the fact that Lily could remain unafraid when visited by two magical beings but be instantly scared out her mind at the slightest rumbling of thunder. She hugged the little girl to her as Marcus beamed at them liking the image of Lily being held tightly in Meiling's arms.

As sudden as it had started the thunder died down.

"See Lily?" Meiling said gently, "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"You'll protect me?" Lily whispered still frightened.

Meiling nodded.

"Promise."

Lily relaxed as she beamed up at the Angel.

"Thanks Mommy!" she said cheerfully.

Everybody stared at her.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Well that was strange," Chelsea, remarked looking out at the suddenly calm sky.

"Stupid weather," Diana muttered.

Zachary laughed.

"Oh come on, what are you complaining about?" he teased.

Diana sighed.

"It's just so annoying. I mean, rain one second and then sunny the next. Can't it stay the same?"

"Then we won't have the different seasons," Chelsea pointed out.

Diana glared at her.

"Chelsea," she sighed, "I don't want logic, I just want to have a good whine."

"Hey, shouldn't I be the one whining?" Zachary asked, "I mean I was in a coma."

"Oh, boo hoo," Diana snapped back, "You didn't have to deal with real life for a few days."

The three friends stared at each other before suddenly bursting into loud peals of laughter. It was good to laugh after such trying times but little did they know the real challenges were just beginning.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Ow..." psuedo-Sakura whinged as she stood up slowly.

She stared at the shattered front door of the hospital as she slowly moved her body around. Finally satisfied that she was alive, she turned to the frightened nurse cowering behind the reception desk.

"What're you staring at?" she snarled, "Haven't you seen a woman get struck by lightning?"

She was distracted from her terrorising of the nurse as the real Sakura strolled into the hospital foyer.

"Well, that was an electrifying start," Sakura smirked.

"Screw you," her doppelganger snarled.

"Now, now that isn't nice," Sakura reprimanded arching her eyebrow.

"Well, is this nice?"

Sakura was thrown against a wall as her doppelganger sent her flying with a kick that cause her body to explode into pain. Sakura slowly staggered to her feet brushing the hair from her eyes as she glared at her counterpart who was slowly moving into a fighter's stance, a sadistic smile decorating her face.

"Hey, you're friends are here!" she said suddenly tossing an evil smirk towards Sakura, "I better say hello!"

Before Sakura could react, psuedo-Sakura disappeared in a flash of bright light.

"Damn it!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lily looked up in surprise as Meiling stared down at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked innocently.

"Ummm..." Meiling gently placed Lily in her father's waiting arms as she tried to gather her scattered wits, "Ummm..."

Marcus studied Meiling intently as the Angel fumbled around looking for the rights, his face seemed to show uncaring calmness but inside he waited desperately for the words he wanted to hear.

"Don't you want to be my mommy?" Lily pressed determined to get an answer.

"Umm... Lily..." Meiling began nervously.

Luckily fate saved the Angel from answering as bright flash of white light flooded into the room causing everyone to let out shouts of surprise as they blinked furiously trying to clear their vision.

"Hmmm... isn't this a nice little gathering," a familiar voice said with malicious humour.

"Sakura?" Meiling tried to clear the spots from her eye as she stared at her friend, "Where have you been?"

"Close but no cigar," 'Sakura' smirked, "I'm not Sakura!"

Meiling had no time to react as this strange Sakura threw a punch at her that knocked her out of her seat and sent her flying into the wall with considerable force.

"Meiling!" Marcus yelled as the Angel slowly levered herself off the ground as psuedo-Sakura smirked at her.

"Who the hell are you?" Meiling roared as she staggered to her feet.

"I'm many things," psuedo-Sakura smirked, "I am power, I am destruction but most of all I'm Yue's champion."

Meiling froze as her mind flew back to what Ruby Moon had told her.

_'... the challenge of Yue is about to being.'_ Meiling remembered the mysterious phrase perfectly.

"Yue's challenge," she gasped at last.

"Oh good, you've heard," psuedo-Sakura sent her one last smirk before flinging herself at her.

Meiling barely managed to block a quick right hook that came crashing into her side only to be whacked across the room with a spin-kick that landed with deadly force. Landing heavily on the ground, Meiling tried to stand up but her legs gave out from under her.

"Whoops," psuedo-Sakura smirked, "Mommy, I broke my doll!"

Meiling spat and cursed at this mysterious creature who had taken her friend's image as a disguise as psuedo-Sakura slowly stalked to towards her menace charging every step.

"You leave her alone!" a tiny voice yelled.

"NO!" Meiling yelled as psuedo-Sakura turned to Lily who was staring at her defiantly.

"Now who are you funny little creature?" she snarled as she began walking towards the bed.

"Marcus! Get her out of here!" Meiling yelled as she tried to run towards them only to have her feet give out from under her.

Psuedo-Sakura took another steps towards Marcus as he tried to get up but stopped as pain flooded through his body.

"Lily! Run!" her father yelled putting her down onto the floor.

"But daddy..." Lily protested.

"GO!" Marcus roared.

Lily tried to run away but psuedo-Sakura leapt over the bed in one single bound and grabbed her roughly around the arm.

"Trying to run?" she snarled, "But the party is only starting!"

Lily tried to squirm out of psuedo-Sakura's grip but it was to no avail as the false Angel tightened her iron-hard grasp.

"NO!" Meiling yelled and finally managed to stand up.

"Take another step and I'll kill her!" psuedo-Sakura roared.

Meiling watched her helplessly as Lily let out a shriek of pain. Psuedo-Sakura had a sadistic smile dancing across her face as she slowly tightened her grip.

Use the sword

Meiling blinked as that random thought suddenly appeared in her mind. Slowly she unclasped the clip of the gold and ruby bracelet she wore on her wrist and gently traced the outline of the ruby-studded butterfly tangling from the chain. A divine calmness seemed to seep into her mind and body as words came to her from the recesses of her mind. Words she had never heard before but instinctively knew they invoked some kind of great power.

"Blade of Clow,

Power of magic,

Power of light,

Reveal the sword,

The force ignite!

RELEASE!"

Psuedo-Sakura let out a gasp of shock as the crimson light burst from rubies on the bracelet. Gold became liquid as it shifted and warped forming first a cross-hilt, then a handle and pommel and finally an awesome blade that shined with divine light. "The Sword of Ruby Moon," psuedo-Sakura gasped as Meiling smirked at her slowly twirling the sword around in her expert hands.

"Fiery, Watery, Wood, Sand, Earthy and Windy," she said slowly and calmly her ruby eyes flashing, "To me!"

Pseudo-Sakura looked around in shock as the window leading out into the night sky suddenly leapt open as strong gust of wind swept into the room. Marcus could feel the air suddenly turn unbearably hot as though a fire had just sprung into life beside him, several seconds later the air turned cool and moist as though a rain cloud was about to sprout from thin air.

The ground just in front of Meiling's feet shook and quaked as thought a mini earthquake had burst from the ground. It widened slightly as the ground bulged upwards as though something was trying to push up and through.

"What is it now?" an angry voice demanded as a red elfish creature with long wings of flames appeared causing a wave of hot air to sweep into the room.

"Mistress?" the wind swirled around in a vortex as it took on a cream and yellow tinge. Finally an elegant woman with long dragonfly wings burst forth from the mini-tornado hurling the winds in all directions.

Two familiar faces greeted Marcus as the bulging ground dissolved into sand causing three magical creatures to spill out. The Wood spirit sent Marcus a small grin as Sand merely nodded at him. The third creature was one he hadn't seen before but she seemed to emanate great powers as she stared at psuedo-Sakura.

Water seemed to appear from thin air unleashing a tiny flood as blue liquid spilled onto the ground. Before Marcus's astonished eyes, the water seemed to become semi-solid as it twisted and bulged forming a fish-like tail and long fin-like ears.

"Calm down Fiery," the tiny mermaid-creature scolded as it emerged from the water.

"The Elementals," Psuedo-Sakura gasped.

"Attack her!" Meiling yelled pointing her sword at Psuedo-Sakura.

Fire, water, gusts of wind, sand, vines and huge chunks of rock blasted out from all corners of the room, twining together to form a destructive wave of elemental power. Psuedo-Sakura gasped in shock as white light began filling her body.

"This sucks," she pouted before her face disappeared behind a mask of white light.

With a huge burst of light that illuminated each of the Clow spirit's faces, she disappeared leaving Lily to stare at the combined attacks of the cards, which hurtled towards her with terrifying speed.

"STOP IT!" Meiling barked.

Marcus watched as each magical creature waved their hands and dispersed their awesome attacks without blinking an eyelid.

"Who the hell was that?" Meiling scowled glaring at the Clow spirits.

"That was Yue's champion," Windy said calmly acting as spoke person again, "She was sent by Yue to test you."

"Where did she go?"

"After Flower's friends."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"LIGHT!" Sakura yelled, "RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

The familiar-looking majestic woman slowly emerged from the card as Sakura tapped her foot impatiently.  
"Where did she go?" Sakura demanded.

"Yue's champion?" The Light card asked.

Sakura glared at her as the Light sighed.

"I believe she's still in the hospital after your friends..."

Sakura stared at her.

"Zachary, Chelsea and Diana," the card clarified.

Before the Light card could say another word, Sakura was already sprinting down the long brightly lit hallways of Los Angeles Hospital.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Diana, Chelsea and Zachary stared as a glowing figure emerged from the bright light that had flooded the room. A familiar-looking girl with long auburn tresses and gentle emerald eyes appeared.

"Cherry?" Chelsea asked in astonishment reverting to her friend's old name.

"No, try Yue's Champion," psuedo-Sakura smirked.

"What the..." Diana gaped at this woman, who obviously wasn't their close friend as she slowly moved into a slow fighter's stance.

"Now, I wonder if you have magic to protect you," psuedo-Sakura smirked, "But I'll guess I'll find out soon enough!"

With that she leapt at Diana as the lawyer stood rooted to the spot by shock and fear as the doppelganger came closer and closer.

"SHIELD!" the door to the room burst open as a sparkling barrier of blue light appeared around Diana.

Psuedo-Sakura's eyes widened in shock as she tried to avoid the barrier but ended up hitting it with considerable force. For a few seconds she seemed to freeze in the air as her foot struck the card, Diana stared at the bubble of energy surrounding her in shock her mind trying to furiously process what she was seeing. With a huge flash of blue light the Shield card hurled psuedo-Sakura backwards with enough force to drive her through the plaster of the room wall.

"Ow... damn it! This is not my day!" psuedo-Sakura growled as she slowly stood up calmly brushing the plaster dust of her, "What now?"

"Get away from my friends," Sakura snarled as the Light card hung back watching the scene unfold before her.

"You again?" her doppelganger snarled, "Really how the hell do I get rid of you?"

"What the hell is going on?" Zachary demanded staring at his close friend as she glared at her doppelganger.

"Sakura?" Chelsea asked, "Which one is you?"

Both Sakuras ignored her as they continued their glaring match.

"Oh screw this, my eyes are getting sore!" Psuedo-Sakura hurled herself at the real one as the Light card stiffened.

Sakura grabbed her doppelganger's outstretched hands and hurled her into a wall as she slammed the butt of the Star wand into her exposed stomach driving the wind from her counterpart's body.

"OW!" Psuedo-Sakura grabbed the Star Wand before Sakura could yank it away and pulled it with all her might.

Sakura tried to fight against her but to her horror find she was slowly being dragged inch by inch towards her doppelganger.

"That's right come to mommy," Psuedo-Sakura cooed, "Come to mommy."

"NO! You are not worthy of wielding the talisman!" the Light card sprang into action as a ball of light burst from her outstretched hands.

Sakura wasn't quite sure what the attack did but she could hear her doppelganger scream in pain as the light washed over her body. When it finally faded, her doppelganger had let go of her wand and was coughing weakly as blood formed a crimson river down her face gushing out from a long cut across her cheeks.

"You Angels," Psuedo-Sakura spat, "You and you friend and loved ones. You can't protect them all."

Before Sakura could react, white light enveloped her doppelganger like a long shimmering cloak and she disappeared again.

"DAMN IT!" Sakura swore in every language she knew in her considerable repertoire, "DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!"

"Umm.. Flower?" the Light card broke through her mistress's ranting.

"WHAT?!" Sakura snarled.

The Light card gestured calmly towards her shell-shocked friends. Sakura gulped and quickly retracted the Shield card away from Diana as the Light transformed herself into a card and floated back to her.

Sakura fidgeted nervously as she scuffed her shoes against the ground. Clutching the Star wand against her chest, she hazarded a look at her friends who stared back at her with three pairs of disbelieving eyes.

"Umm... there's something I need to tell you."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Syaoran Li sat up as he heard the sound of footsteps walking across the hard wood floor just outside his office. Frowning, he got up and walked to the door.

"Who is it?" he called as he swung the door open.

A pair of familiar emerald eyes stared back at him.

Syaoran gasped as he took a step backwards in shock.

"How did you find me... what... when?" he gasped as he paled wondering how one of his Angels find out where he lived and who he actually was.

'Sakura' just continued to smile at him, her eyes dancing with malicious mirth.

"Sakura?"

"In your dreams."

The next thing Syaoran knew, 'Sakura' had punched him in the face and darkness claimed his senses.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

You guess it! CLIFFHANGER!! Don't you just hate me? And thank you, thank you, thank you for all your lovely reviews! It's great to know so many people are reading this fic!

Next chapter:

Finally the Angels are reunited once more as Tomoyo appears at the hospital not realising Eriol was the one who rescued her. However they have little time to rest when they realise Syaoran is missing and Psuedo-Sakura is the one behind his disappearance. To make things more complicated, Yue contacts them via dreams to reveal the first piece of the puzzle concerning the whereabouts of the third book. And what is Lilia's plan for Zachary? All will be revealed in... _Missing in Action._

A/Notes: First of all thank you, thank you for all your lovely reviews! It's great to know some many take an interest in this fic!

And thanks for all your opinions concerning the sequel/prequel. I've got some ideas for the sequel but it is still in its early developing stages so it may take a while to post up but the prequel may come sooner than that.

And just on a personal note this is one of the favourite chapters because of its kind of new character, Psuedo-Sakura (just in case you're wondering or confused psuedo means false and it will be the name I'll most often used for Sakura's clone. Doppelganger and counterpart may also be used). To me personally Psuedo-Sakura is everything Sakura is not: malicious, evil and sadistic, which to me is the funniest character of all to write (do I need to get help?).

And of course the mysterious boss of Spinnel Corporation is revealed. If you know French, it may give you a hint on who he is. But if you know don't put it in your review cause you'll spoil it for the others.

So what do you think of Psuedo-Sakura? And in general what do you think of what I've done with old CCS characters and new characters? If there is something you don't like, I'll try to make improvements. Thanks!


	24. Missing in Action

I WILL NOT UPDATE UNTIL I HAVE ANOTHER 20 REVIEWS! SO PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE UPDATE!

Disclaimer: read pervious chapters for disclaimers.

Syaoran's Angels

**Chapter 23: Missing in Action **

"Umm... there's something I need to tell you," Sakura said awkwardly as her friends gaped openly at her.

"Wha... when... where..." Chelsea gasped.

Diana was equally as shocked. She knew that Sakura was an Angel but she didn't know she possessed some kind of freaky magic power!

"What the hell was that?" she whispered staring at Sakura with disbelieving eyes, "I thought you told me everything!"

"Well, I didn't know about half of this until a couple of days ago," Sakura shrugged apologetically, "Sorry."  
"SORRY?" Zachary exploded, "Who are you? Are you even the real Sakura?"

"Well I can vouch for that," the Light card spoke up, "She is the real one, the one Flower just fought is Yue's champion, her doppelganger."

For a few seconds, everybody stopped staring at Sakura switching their attention to the tall majestic glowing lady standing beside their friend.

"This isn't the time," Sakura said tersely, "You're not helping."

The Light huffed under her breath as Sakura glared at her.

"Light card! Return to your power confined," she commanded, "Light card!"

A shimmering rectangular shape appeared in the air in front of Sakura, shining with such brightness that it made everything else seemed dark and shadowy in comparison. The Light tried to protest this treatment but was rudely cut off when a spinning vortex of air sucked her into the card and the glowing faded. Sakura calmly held up her hand as the card floated over to her. Tucking the Light card along with the rest inside her pocket, Sakura studied the Star wand carefully.

"Talisman of the Sun," she intoned, "I, Mistress Sakura command you. Hide your true form before me! By our contract... CHANGE!"

The wand let a giant burst of light before shrinking into a golden-coloured key complete with chain, which Sakura looped over her neck and hid beneath the fabric of her shirt.

"I'm getting the hang of this," Sakura said with a small smile as she looked up.

Her smile slowly faded as her friend's continued to stare at her in shocked silence.

"Umm... the beginning sounds good?" Sakura asked.

Nobody answered.

Sakura closed her eyes and began the long epic saga of her being an Angel.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Who? What? Where? How?" In her shock, Meiling's sentence ran together as the Elementals plus Wood and Sand studied her calmly.

"Yue's champion?" Fiery growled, "Hello? The one Ruby Moon warned you about? Jeez, you're slow."

Meiling threw Fiery one of her legendary death glares as the Clow spirit stuck out her tongue in reply.

"Oh grow up," Watery snapped at her fellow card.

Fiery growled at her as Watery held up her hands and sent a tiny tendril of water at the card.

"AHHHHH!! WATER! GET IT AWAY FROM ME! GET IT AWAY!" the card shrieked as the Watery sniggered and dispersed the water with a wave of her hands.

"Coward," Earthy smirked.

"Oh shut up," Fiery snarled back, "You'll be cowering if I ever vent my wrath on you."

"I'll like to see you try," the Elemental card challenged drawing herself up to her full impressive height.

Fiery narrowed her eyes at Earthy and clenched her fist ready to hurl a ball of fire at the spirit.

"Stop it," Meiling growled trying hard to keep her fury out of her voice, "Stop bickering and start explaining."

Fiery opened her mouth to argue.

"NOW!"

All the card gulped as Meiling unleashed another death glare on them, this one promising slow and painful deaths if they didn't spill the beans quick.

"Well, from what I gather," Wood began, "Yue's hiding place for the third talisman and book is very cryptic and secretive but he does want the three to find it however he wants to test the destined angels to make sure they can finish the task set out before them. And I'm guessing his test is in the form of fake-Flower, which will probably try to hinder your quest for the third book."

"Wait, task set out before us?" Meiling demanded, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't you know about the fourth book?" Windy said surprised, "I'm pretty sure Light card told us Flower knew..."

"Flower?!" Meiling was becoming visibly upset, "Oh god! With everything that's going on I forgot you told me she was in a coma... and... I have to..."

"Stop worrying," Watery cut her off, "Flower is here."

"Huh?"

"Here," Fiery clarified, "As in she is right here in this freaking hospital now."

"Where?" Meiling demanded.

"Ward 7," Windy said calmly.

Before anybody could react Meiling planted a quick kiss on Marcus and was dashing off down the hallway. Lily looked at the Elementals fascinated with them as the cards stared back at her.

"Are you a pixie?" the little girl asked innocently to Fiery.

"WHAT?!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The crickets chirruped noisily outside as Sakura stared at her friends. Her friends stared back at her.

A few eternal seconds dragged past as Sakura began fidgeting nervously.

"Umm..." she trailed off searching for something to say, "Surprise?"

"Are you sure you aren't hallucinating or anything?" Chelsea asked finally.

"Yeah if I was then you must have been hallucinating when you saw my evil twin attempt to kill you and was rescued by a magical being that can apparently use light to hurt people. So what do you think?" Sakura demanded.

Chelsea looked hurt as Sakura stopped realising she was letting her nerves get the better of her.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

For a few brief seconds she wondered if she could use the key again to make them forget about magic and her being an Angel...

No her mind told her firmly.

She refused to lie to her friends any longer; she refused to lower herself to that level. These were her friends. They deserved to know the truth about her rather then being fed lies and being kept in the shadows again. Shaking herself away from her thoughts, Sakura focused on her friends again.

"Sooo... any questions?" Sakura asked nervously.

"Try a million," Zachary said, a hurt expression appearing on his face, "Why didn't you tell us?"

Sakura sighed.

"Because it could've potentially put you all in danger. I mean with people like Spi..." Sakura cut herself off as she realised what she was about to say.

"Like who?" Chelsea asked.

Sakura gulped as she searched desperately for something to undo the damage.

"Just some people," Sakura finished off lamely, "If they knew you were connected to me. They might hurt you so they can get to me. Trust me, my life is dangerous and I don't want to make your lives dangerous either."

There was another awkward pause as her friends tried to digest what they had told her.

"Magic?' Diana said slowly, "Sakura are you sure? Are you sure there isn't something... wrong with you?"

Sakura bristled and was going to reply with a sharp remark when the door behind her suddenly burst open. Whirling around with amazing speed, Sakura leapt into a fighter's stance getting ready to face this new intruder. However her arms dropped to her side when she saw who it was.

"Meiling?" Sakura gasped.

"SAKURA!"

Before the startled American Angel could react, Meiling bounded across the room and swept her up in a tight hug.

"God! I'm so sorry about the other night. That comment was totally out of line and I'm so, so, so, so sorry!" Meiling cried hugging her friend tightly, "Are you okay? I heard you were in a coma from...'

Meiling trailed off when she saw who else was in the room.

"Umm.. hi?" Meiling gave a small wave as she studied Diana, Chelsea and Zachary, "I'm..."

"Guys, this is Meiling... another Angel," Sakura clarified.

Meiling's eyes widened in shock as she realised what Sakura had said.

'They know?" she demanded.

Sakura nodded.

"Oh," Meiling's eyes nervously roved around the room until it rested upon the sword she held in her hand.

"Is that?" Sakura questioned faintly staring at the sword.

"The second talisman?" Meiling asked with a small smirk, "You bet."

Sakura's face dissolved into a bright grin.

"All right!" she said happily, "That means we can find the mirror!"

"What mirror?" Diana broke in suspiciously, "How many things are you not telling us?"

"And hang on," Meiling said with a frown, "What's with the freaky doppelganger of yours."

Sakura cringed as questions began being fired from every direction. Letting out a long sigh, she began explaining again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

"This is Unit A72," the police officer said into his hand-held radio, "We're moving into the factory."

_'Copy that, Unit A72. Proceed with caution,' _the person on the other end said calmly.

"Copy that," tucking the radio into its holster on his belt. The police officer pulled out his gun and walked into the shadows.

His partner followed after him, blackened glass crunching under their feet as they walked. Shoving his unease about the anonymous tip-off that led them to this place to the back of his head, the police officer saw that in the darkness was an open metal revealing yet more shadows beyond its threshold.

Gesturing to his partner to cover him, the police officer moved with uncanny stealth to the door. Risking a quick glance around, he took a deep breath before step past the door and into the darkness.

Down, down, down he climbed down the flight of unsteady stairs. His footsteps were almost silent, his breathing a mere whisper in the darkness.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. It was all alone aside from a young woman that lay bound and gagged in one corner of this underground room she seemed to be unconscious as a soft breeze rustled her long smoky grey hair.

Striding towards the woman, the man knelt down and quickly checked for a pulse. It was there, a bit faint but still pulsing with life.

Pulling out his radio, he quickly switched it to the right frequency.

"This is Unit A72, we need an ambulance to the burnt down steel refinery factory," the police officer said calmly slowly working the rope free from around the woman's wrists, "I repeat we need an ambulance."

_'We copy that Unit A72,' _the woman at the police station reported calmly, _'An ambulance would be there to assist you.'_

"Copy that."

As his partner came to stand by his side, neither police officers were aware of the shadowy figure that stumbled from the darkness and silently fled up the stairs.

With blood still sluggishly oozing from her wounds, she stumbled into night air but she was soon gone.

Rika Sasaki had gotten away.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"A fourth book?" Meiling gasped, "One with a card inside that is stronger than all the others. Damn."  
"You expect me to believe that these cards were created in the Shang Dynasty?" Zachary demanded, "Sakura, do you know how unbelievable that sounds."

"I can prove it," Sakura challenged.

"Show me."

Sakura turned to Meiling.

"Meiling," she instructed calmly, "Hold up the talisman and say 'Clow cards of the Book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die to me'. Say it loudly and clearly."

Meiling nodded and slowly held up her sword. Sakura's friends watched with bated breath as Meiling closed her eyes and began speaking.

"Clow cards of the Book of Hong Bao Shi Hu Die," Meiling begin her voice becoming louder and louder with each word, "TO ME!"

Everybody looked away as a sudden burst of bright light exploded out of the ruby embedded into the pommel of the sword. When the light finally faded, Meiling was startled to find several glowing objects floating in the air in front of her. Gingerly she held up her hands and gasped in shock as the objects slowly floated into her hand and the glowing died down.

"Whoa," Diana gasped.

"Nicely done, Fighter," a cool voice filled the room.

"WHAT?!" Chelsea freaked, as a tall elegant woman seemed to emerge from thin air.

Soon the room became crowded as other strange creatures began piling into the room.

"Aren't you supposed to be protecting Marcus and Lily?" Meiling scowled at the Elementals.

"Umm... didn't you say cards of the Book of Hong Bao Shi Hue Die to me?" Fiery snapped back, "That means us also."

"Oh," Meiling paused as she realised that for once the cards was right, "Fine. Return to them please."

The Fiery's body seemed to dissolve into burning flames as the other cards did other pieces of fanciful magic before disappearing.

"And those were?" Chelsea asked slowly.

"The Clow cards."

"So I guess they do exist," Zachary said faintly, his voice barely above a whisper, "Oh my god."

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Chelsea said softly, "Don't you trust us?"

Sakura paled realising that was almost the exactly the same thing, Tomoyo and Meiling had accused her of the night before she had fought Lara. To her surprise, it was Meiling who answered.

"Oh please!" she muttered rolling her eyes, "In case you don't know it's a bit hard to tell people. I mean how is she going to break it to you: 'Surprise! I'm an Angel and oh by the way I have magical cards.' Yeah, that'll go down really well."

Sakura felt her throat choke with emotion as she blinked away tears.

"Thanks," she whispered.

Meiling winked at her.

"No worries."

"So magic," Diana said thoughtfully, "Wow. That's so cool."

Zachary and Chelsea stared at her.

"What?" Diana asked, "It's not that bigger deal."

Everybody stared at her this time as Diana shrugged sheepishly.

"Okay so it is. But who cares? Sakura lied to protect us. That just proves she's our friend," Diana explained, "Sure I'm hurt but she did it because she cared."

Zachary and Chelsea blinked as she realised what she said was true.

"Sorry about misjudging you," Chelsea said quietly.

"No worries," Sakura smiled at her, "And anyway sometime magic is a good thing."

"What do you mean?" Zachary asked curiously.

Sakura smiled at him mysteriously.

"Key of Stars with powers burning bright! Reveal the staff and shine your light! Release!" Sakura commanded as the Star wand appeared, "Fly card! Release and dispel!"  
Everybody backed away as the massive bird-like creature emerged from the card squawking excitedly when it spotted its mistress.

"Look familiar?" Sakura asked with a smirk.

Zachary stared at it as memories began flooding into his head.

He was wandering around in this strange misty place.

Looking for a way out back to his wife...

Then a bird... from the skies... grabbed him... pulling him out of the limbo.

The bird!

"You're the bird that rescued me from the limbo," Zachary said quietly, "I didn't even remember it until then. What?"

"I sent him," Sakura sent quietly, "I sent him to rescue you. I was in a coma as well and the cards told me this card, the Fly could cross between the planes only once and that I was to use it to come back to the real world. Then I remember about you so I told the Fly card to rescue you instead leaving me stranded."

Zachary and Chelsea blinked back tears as they realised the sacrifice Sakura had made.

"Thank you," Zachary said hoarsely.

"Your welcome," Sakura said pleasantly.

Sakura held up the wand and was just in the process of returning the Fly card back into its card form when the Windy appeared again.

"What now?" Meiling growled.

"I thought you'll just like to know that the Fox has just arrived here," the Windy said pleasantly.

Sakura and Meiling's eyes widened in shock as Diana opened her mouth to ask who the Fox was.

"Talisman of the Sun, I, mistress Sakura command you. Hide your true form before me. By our contract... Change!"

"Sword of Earth, hide your true form before me. I, mistress Meiling command you. CHANGE!"

Light burst from the talismans as one changed into a gold key whilst other changed into a gold and ruby bracelet. Before Zachary, Chelsea or Diana could react, the two Angels had run out of the door and down the hallway.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo let out a low moan as her body slowly began waking up. Still exhausted for some mysterious reason, Tomoyo opened her eyes and blinked in confusion as she stared at an unfamiliar white ceiling, bright light blaring out of a nearby fluorescent light bulb.

"Where am I?" she whispered weakly trying to look around but unable to find the energy.

"She's awake!" a familiar voice said happily, "Meiling! She's awake!"

"Sakura?!" Tomoyo gasped.

She wanted to say more but couldn't as a wheezing cough wracked her body. When she next opened her eyes she could see two familiar pairs of eyes staring back down at her.

"Tomoyo, what happened?" Meiling demanded, "I heard that you were poisoned. Who did it? Which son of a..."

"I don't know," Tomoyo said wearily, "I was on a date... then I don't remember a thing."

"Just rest okay?" Sakura said soothingly, "Everything's going to be okay."

Tomoyo nodded and fell back to sleep as Sakura and Meiling stared at each other worriedly.

"Meiling, can you watch over her?" Sakura said quietly, "I have to done something."

Meiling nodded as Sakura calmly walked out of the room and began roughly towards the exit. As she stepped into the foyer, she gaped seeing at the destruction her and her doppelganger had caused. A police officer was calmly interviewing an obviously distressed receptionist as Sakura tried to casually walk out.

"That's her!" the receptionist shrieked, "That's the woman! That's..."

Sakura froze as the police officer took a threatening step towards her.

"Forget about me and the doppelganger," Sakura said slowly summoning the power of the key, "Forget about the fight. Erase all the damage that has been done."

The room was bathed in gold light as Sakura watched the holes in the wall repair itself. The receptionist and police officer seemed to enter a trance as Sakura calmly pushed the now restored front door open and exited into the night.

"... her," the receptionist blinked in confusion, "What the?"

The police officer looked around, puzzled, wondering what he was doing here.

"Umm... sorry marm but I have to leave," he said hurriedly as he left.

The receptionist looked around before shrugging and returning to her work as Sakura standing in the darkness outside calmly summoned the Star wand again.

"Move card! Remove the poison flowing through Tomoyo's body!" Sakura commanded, "RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A pair of pink wings sprang from the cards and fluttered excitedly in front of her before disappearing in a burst of pink light. Sakura stood waiting patiently as her card went to fulfil her command.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling froze as a ball of pink light appeared in front of her. Grabbing her bracelet and ready to summon her own talisman, Meiling blinked on confusion as a pair of petite pink wings winged their way towards Tomoyo's bed.

"Hey!" she called trying to stop them.

The wings seemed to hover above Tomoyo's body before letting off another burst of pink light. Meiling gasped in shock as life began returning to Tomoyo's pale face. Her eyes fluttered open as the darkness that had clouded her lavender eyes before faded giving way to intelligence and alertness.

"What are these?" she said strongly slowly sitting up.

The pink wings gave one last flutter before dissolving into a cloud of pink mist.

"I'm not sure," Meiling replied slowly still recovering from her shock, "But I think its Sakura's doing."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

Sakura smiled as the Move card appeared in front of her.

"Good job," she said cheerfully as she changed the Clow spirit back into its card form.

With a quick whispered incantation, the wand changed back into its key form. As Sakura looped the chain around her neck and went back into the hospital.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

At four o'clock in the morning, Sakura Kinomoto managed to 'persuade' (using the key) the doctors to discharge Tomoyo Daidouji from the hospital. Lily was also discharged but Marcus had to stay in order for the doctors to remove the bullet from his side. Sakura had wanted to remove it using the Move card but Meiling had flatly refused swearing that she would turn the Fiery on her friend if she dared tried.

"Repair the house!" Sakura commanded her emerald eyes briefly flashing gold.

The shattered windows, broken furniture and other signs of destruction immediately reacted. Shards of glass fused together to form whole panes of glass again before leaping back into the windowsills forming whole undamaged windows. Thread of fabric plunged back into its proper weave as broken wood merged together to form unbroken furniture. Tomoyo and Meiling stared around in amazement as Tomoyo's house began repairing itself at a super-fast rate collapsing whole months of repairs into a few brief seconds.

Sakura staggered backwards as her spell ended. Meiling rushed to help her as Sakura let out a few gasping breaths.

"I'm fine," she managed to murmur.

Meiling nodded as Tomoyo looked around.

"What happened?" she demanded staring at both Meiling and Sakura, "To both of you."

"Later," Meiling said softly, "I'll put Lily to bed."

Gently removing the sleeping girl from Tomoyo's arms, Meiling walked to the spare room and deposited the young girl onto the bed giving her a soft kiss before leaving closing the door behind her.

Walking back to the living room, Meiling sat down onto the sofa beside Sakura opposite Tomoyo as the Japanese Angel waited patiently.

Meiling took a deep breath.

"I think Sakura better start," she said hesitantly, "She's been gone the longest."

Sakura nodded and began her story telling them of the events of Santa Barbara.

She told them of her ordeal in the Kill Room, meeting and being defeated by Lara Williams, her mother's murdered.

She told them of her subsequent coma and her trip to the limbo, meeting her long-dead mother and Kerberos.

She told them of the story Kerberos and the Light card had told her, of the legacy of Clow Reed, of his cards and of Heilang's mistake.

She told them of the fourth book and how fate had chosen them to destroy it.

She talked and talked and talked until she reached the bit when Meiling had burst into Zachary's room.

"Oh god, Sakura," Tomoyo gasped, "I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry about the other night," Meiling said awkwardly, "I shouldn't have said what I said."

"Don't worry," Sakura said with a small smile, "I forgive you but if you do it again..."

She let the threat hang in the air as the other two Angels smiled at her nervously.

"Umm... I guess I better tell my part of it," Meiling suggested.

The other two Angels nodded eagerly as Meiling began.

She told them of Mallus Harrason's raid on Tomoyo's house and how Marcus had been shot.

She told them of her horror when she realised that Marcus and Lily were missing and her shock at the appearance of the Clow cards.

She told them of Ruby Moon's spectacular domain and her fight for the second talisman.

She told them of her relief when she find Marcus and Lily in the hospital and her fight with the doppelganger.

"So that's all I guess," Meiling finished.

Tomoyo groaned.

"This sucks," she muttered, "All you guys have long exciting stories to tell and I have nothing."

"What happened to you?" Meiling asked curiously, "I heard from the cards you were in the limbo as well."

Sakura stared at her friend in shock as Tomoyo told her part of the story.

She told them how she had met Yue and how he had delivered some cryptic clues to her.

She told them of Yue's challenge and how he had sent the ball of light that had later created Psuedo-Sakura.

She told them of her waking up and realising Rika had her.

"Then... I don't know what happened," Tomoyo said helplessly, "I fainted and the next thing I knew I was in the hospital."

The other two Angels swapped a quick glance with each other as Tomoyo sighed in frustration.

"I wish I just knew."

"Well, wishing ain't going to help," Meiling said realistically, "I think we better go to bed."

The two other Angels stared at her.

"In case you don't remember..." Meiling trailed off, "Or don't know. Syaoran scheduled a meeting with us tomorrow at seven. Remember? The one were he'll tell us if his sources came up with anything?"

Tomoyo nodded as Sakura shrugged.

"Well I wasn't there so I wouldn't know," she sighed, "But you're right. I'm exhausted."

With that the Angels drifted into a bedroom each and quickly fell asleep.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

The light on the speaker box lit up as it cracked into life.

"Good morning, Syaoran!" the girls chorused still managing to be energetic even though they were working with less than two hours of sleep in their bodies.

The speaker box was silent.

The Angels stared at each other uneasily before switching their attention back to the speaker box.

"Umm.. Syaoran?" Sakura asked.

"Awww... sorry. But I'm not your precious Syaoran," a familiar malicious voice drawled over the line.

Tomoyo frowned in confusion as Sakura and Meiling let out gasps of surprise. Fire seemed to spill from Meiling's eyes as she gritted her teeth glaring at the speaker box. A familiar feeling of rage gripped Sakura's body as she slowly clenched her fist.

"Bitch," she growled.

"That isn't very nice," the voice sneered back, "Considering I have your precious boss."

"What the hell have you done with him?" Meiling barked.

"Who is that?" Tomoyo demanded, "she's sounds like Sakura but..."

"I'm a thousand times better," the voice jeered back.

"That's my doppelganger," Sakura snarled.

Tomoyo tensed as she remembered what Meiling and Sakura had told her about Yue's challenge.

"What have done with Syaoran?" she demanded coldly.

"Don't worry your little heads about it," Psuedo-Sakura told them through the speaker box, "I have him safe and sound... for now. I have a simple demand."

"What is it?" Tomoyo snarled.

"The second talisman. The sword," Sakura's doppelganger said calmly, "I need it to find the mirror. Give me the sword and you'll have your precious Syaoran back."

"How do you know about the mirror and the sword?" Meiling asked genuinely surprised.

"Oh puh-lease," Psuedo-Sakura scoffed, "Remember? I'm Yue's challenge for you so-called Angels. I'm here to find the mirror and the book and keep it for myself. It's what I was made to do."

"How are we going to give the sword to you?" Tomoyo asked calmly refusing to give in to her rage as her two fellow Angels were doing, "I imagine you aren't in this country."

"True," Psuedo-Sakura sneered, "The exchange will take place in two hours. Meet me at Warehouse 7 on Pier 6 along the coast of Los Angeles Harbour. There will be no negotiations, no attempts to hinder the exchange in anyway. Deliver the sword to me or Syaoran dies."

Before any of the Angels could react, the speaker box went dead.

"Damn it!" Meiling yelled furiously.

"We need a plan," Sakura hissed.

Tomoyo sighed.

"What do you have in mind?"

Sakura shrugged.

"We kill her," Meiling said flatly.

"That's part of the plan," Tomoyo said dryly, "But we need something more substantial."

Sakura frowned.

"The main problem is she can teleport," she said slowly, 'we need to stop her from doing that."

All three Angels stared at each other hoping that one of the other two would come up with a valid plan. Silence reigned inside the room as they continued to stare at each other waiting in vain.

"Oh brother," Tomoyo sighed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meiling kicked open the door to the warehouse as they walked inside striding purposely towards the centre of the room. Tomoyo glanced down at her watch as they walked.

_8:58:59_

"Almost time," she announced.

_8:59:30_

Sakura's eyes roved warily around the warehouse as Meiling calmly unclasped the bracelet from around her wrist.

_8:59:45_

"Fifteen seconds," Tomoyo whispered.

_8:59:55_

_8:59:56_

_8:59:57_

_8:59:58_

"Ah, Angels," a familiar voice called from the shadows, "Welcome to my humble abode."

Although Sakura and Meiling had told her about the doppelganger, Tomoyo was taken aback by the creature's likeness to her friend as she strolled out from the shadows. The likeness was uncanny: the same auburn tresses, the same emerald eyes and the same manner in which she held herself. But her eyes were dancing with malicious glee and arrogance seemed to roll off her body in invisible waves.

_9:00:00_

"Ah, you're on time," Psuedo-Sakura cooed, "How nice."

The three Angels were silent as they stared back at Yue's challenge.

"The sword," the doppelganger said holding out her hands, "Please."

Meiling held the bracelet up as light glanced off the many facets of the rubies bathing the Angel's face in red glittering light as she slowly began chanting.

"Blade of Clow,

Power of magic,

Power of light,

Release the sword,

The force ignite!

Release!"

A sadistic smile appeared on Psuedo-Sakura's face as the bracelet let off a huge burst of bright light. When it finally faded, Meiling was revealed standing there calmly as she held the sword tightly in her hands.

"I believe that's mine," Psuedo-Sakura smirked gesturing with her hands.

Meiling fixed Psuedo-Sakura with a steely glare as she slowly walked towards the doppelganger. Sakura and Tomoyo tensed as Meiling came within striking distance of the creature.

"Here," Meiling said softly, "Take it!"

The doppelganger had no time to react as Meiling swung the sword with all her might. A meaty thud filled the air as the blade slammed into Psuedo-Sakura's side slicing through skin and flesh before becoming stuck fast as Meiling smirked at her.

"Whoops," she sneered, "My hands slipped."

"Now, now what's this?" Psuedo-Sakura smirked back, "Betrayal? That's not very nice."

Meiling's eyes widened in shock as Psuedo-Sakura slowly pulled the sword from her side. Blood poured from the horrific wound but the doppelganger ignored it as she took a step towards Meiling.

"Whoops," she smirked, "My hands slipped too."

Before Meiling could react Psuedo-Sakura backhanded her with such force that the Angel was sent flying through the air.

"MEILING!" Sakura and Tomoyo cried.

Meiling crashed into a pile of crates as Psuedo-Sakura laughed.

"Think you could defeat me?" she snarled, "You can't kill me! I am immortal!"

Tomoyo and Sakura stared at the doppelganger as she laughed insanely. They stared in horror as the horrific wound in her side slowly began healing itself. Tendon and skin began knitting back together as Psuedo-Sakura let out another peal of laughter.

"See?" she said waggling her eyebrows, "Good as new."

"Damn," Sakura whispered.

Meiling let a loud groan as she slowly staggered to her feet using the sword for support as she glared at Psuedo-Sakura.

"You just messed with the wrong girl," she snarled as Psuedo-Sakura laughed.

"Yeah, nice try at threatening me. I'll give you five points for trying but really? Trembling when threatening doesn't drive home the intimidation factor," Psuedo-Sakura smirked, "Sorry but I've got a Syaoran to kill now!"

"MEILING! NOW!" Tomoyo roared.

"LOOP CARD!" Meiling pulled the card out of her pocket and hurled it onto the ground, "STOP SAKURA'S DOPPELGANGER FROM TELEPORTING AWAY! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Before Psuedo-Sakura could react, Meiling brought her sword down touching the card with the tip of her blade. White light burst from the card as a long black and purple ribbon slowly emerged from the light twisting itself this way and that way until it had twisted itself into the infinity sign. The Clow spirit flew across the warehouse and slammed into Psuedo-Sakura wrapping her in its grip as a flurry of curses let her lips. The Loop card gave a flash of violet light before becoming semi-transparent and then disappearing altogether seemingly sinking into the doppelganger's skin.

"What the hell?" the doppelganger gasped, "What was that?"

She closed her eyes and focused but nothing happened.

"NO!" she screamed in rage as Sakura sniggered.

"Oh well," Sakura smirked, "Guess you'll have to fight us."

Ripping the key off its chain, Sakura began chanting.

"Key of Stars with powers burning bright! Reveal the staff and shine your light! RELEASE!"

The talisman quickly changed into the familiar Star wand as Sakura gripped it tightly before summoning a card.

"THUNDER CARD! ATTACK MY DOPPELGANGER! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A roaring muscular tiger-like creature burst from the card, lightning dancing along its azure blue body as it fixed Psuedo-Sakura with its burning white eyes. The doppelganger's eyes widened in shock as the Clow spirit opened its mouth.

"BOOM!"

Huge bolts of lightning exploded from the creature's fang-lined jaws as Psuedo-Sakura hurled herself to the ground. Lightning flew past overhead before crashing into the far wall punching through the flimsy brick as the Thunder card roared in rage at missing its prey.

"This wasn't the plan!" Psuedo-Sakura roared in fury, "You traitors!"

"Have a cry," Sakura snarled back, "STRIKE!"

More bolts of lightning burst from the creature's jaws as Psuedo-Sakura leapt to the right barely missing the bolts as it crashed into the concrete creating a smoking black crater as Sakura gritted her teeth in frustration.

"Sorry, having fun but I must go now!" Psuedo-Sakura tossed the Angels a smirk as she leapt up and sprinted with break-neck speed towards the door.

"GET HER!" Sakura commanded.

Lightning singed the ground and walls as Psuedo-Sakura raced to dodge them. Kicking the door open and she ran off into broad daylight.

"Damn it!" Tomoyo growled, "After her!"

"Thunder card! Return to your power confined!" Sakura commanded.

The Thunder let out one last roar before returning to its card form. Sakura caught the card as it flew to her before catching up with her friends as they raced outside.

"There!" Tomoyo yelled pointing at the doppelganger.

They watched as Psuedo-Sakura slammed the last of a group of rough-looking bikies into a nearby wall before leaping onto one of their motorcycles and gunning the engine.

"VROOM!"

The Angels jumped back hurriedly as she charged past them roaring at full speed as she sped away.

"After her!" Meiling yelled.

All three Angels ran towards the other remaining motorbikes leaping over the fallen bikies as they each claimed a bike for themselves. Meiling and Sakura quickly changed their talismans to their smaller forms as Tomoyo revved the engine.

"Let's ride!" Meiling yelled exhilarated as she gunned the engine.

A high pitch screeching filled the air as all three Angels sped off down the narrow alleyways in search of Psuedo-Sakura.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

"Damn!" Meiling yelled at her fellow Angels, "She's heading for Freeway 360!"

Sakura grimaced as she risked a quick glance down at her speedometer. She was doing over 200km/h as she raced after her doppelganger who was only about five hundred meters in front of them.

"Speed up!" Sakura commanded, "Try cutting her off!"

The two other Angels nodded as they peeled away from her. Sakura roared down the road as cars honked at her cursed filtering through the smoky air as Sakura entered the freeway. Here cars sped past her at over 100km/h as she caught a quick glimpse of Psuedo-Sakura before a roaring semi-trailer cut her off. Gritting her teeth, Sakura revved the engine and sped after her.

Her doppelganger weaved in and out of her traffic as Sakura did her best to try and follow her.

"This isn't working," Sakura muttered, "I need to be able to attack her!"

Smiling grimly, Sakura continued to pursue her enemy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo cut through five lanes of traffic and ignored the furious drivers inside the cars as she caught a glimpse of auburn hair flashing past her.

"Got ya!" she snarled as she gunned her engine and raced after the doppelganger.

Sakura appeared beside her as Tomoyo nodded to her before concentrating on her driving.

"This isn't going to work!" Sakura roared.

Tomoyo barley managed to hear her over the sound of the air whistling past her ears as she pushed the bike to its limits, its motor rattling loudly as it tried to keep up with Tomoyo's demand.

"I know!" Tomoyo yelled back.

The Angel's conversation was cut off abruptly as Psuedo-Sakura suddenly leapt off her speeding bike.

"What the?" Tomoyo whispered.

She watched in shocked fascination as the doppelganger landed with feline grace bending her knees to absorb the shock as she landed with ease.

"That's impossible," Sakura gasped, "She should've been killed. If we tried that we'll be killed!"

"BOOM!"

Flames burst from the impact site as Psuedo-Sakura's speeding bike slammed into a passing semi-trailer exploding on impact. Black smoke poured into the sky as Tomoyo and Sakura fought to brake in time.

"KREEEEE!!"

Their tyres were shredded into strips of black rubber as they managed to stop just in time.

"Damn it!" Sakura yelled hopping off her bike, "Where is she?"

Nearby cars came to a screeching halt to avoid crashing into the flaming wreckage of the truck as the two Angels looked around.

"Looking for me?" a voice called.

Tomoyo looked up in shock as Psuedo-Sakura seemed to drop from the sky.

"Oof!" Psuedo-Sakura landed lightly in front of her before landing a solid kick on her stomach sending Tomoyo flying through the air.

She landed heavily as Psuedo-Sakura turned to her counterpart.

"Thought you won didn't you?" she smirked.

"It ain't over yet," Sakura snarled.

Psuedo-Sakura threw a punch at her as Sakura ducked kicking her counterpart's legs out from under her.

"DAMN!" her doppelganger snarled as she fell to the ground.

Before Sakura could take advantage of her fall, Psuedo-Sakura flipped onto her feet and punched Sakura in the chest throwing her backwards. Sakura's back slammed into the low wall surrounding the edge of the road as the wind was driven from her chest.

"Game over," Psuedo-Sakura snarled charging straight for her.

Sakura let out a wheezing cough as thick smoke poured into her lungs as she fought to stay conscious. Psuedo-Sakura pounced at her as Sakura blinked once in confusion before acting on instinct. She grabbed her doppelganger's outstretched hands and shoved her hip into her stomach. Using the arm as leverage and her counterpart's momentum against her, Sakura hurled her off her shoulders and over the low wall.

"NOOOOO!!" Psuedo-Sakura's scream was abruptly cut off as she landed onto a car onto the other section of the freeway below.

Sakura ran to the wall and peered over the edge expecting to see Psuedo-Sakura's body splattered over the road below her. She gasped in shock as she saw the crumpled hood of the car smoking pouring out from its ruined engine. She watched in horror as she saw Psuedo-Sakura slowly sit up still on top of the car hood.

"See ya!" Psuedo-Sakura called giving Sakura a small wave as she got up off the ruined car hood with not a scratch on her, "Told you I was immortal!"

Sakura watched as Psuedo-Sakura calmly walked to the honking car behind the one she had landed on and rip off its door as though it was made of paper. Casually she leaned inside and hurled its occupant out before climbing in. She gave Sakura one last wave before cutting into the next lane and speeding away.

"DAMN IT!" Sakura screamed before whirling around, "Tomoyo?"

"I'm fine," Tomoyo gasped as she slowly stood up shakily.

"Get a car and try to find Meiling. Psuedo-Sakura's find a new car. It's a red Jaguar with a missing door," Sakura commanded, "Find Meiling and tell her."  
"Where are you going?" Tomoyo asked as she winced slowly stretching her battered body.

"I'm going after her," Sakura said calmly summoning her Star wand from its key.

She quickly searched through her Clow cards as she chose a promising one.

"JUMP CARD!" she commanded, "LEND ME YOUR POWER! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A pair of semi-transparent wings appeared on the heels of her feet as Sakura gave a small bounce experimentally. She smiled as she felt herself being launched several metres into the air.

"GO!" she yelled at Tomoyo before leaping off the edge.

She plummeted downwards hitting the ground with her foot as the card absorbed the shock before flinging her back up into the air. Leaping over at least five cards at the time, Sakura hit the ground again as she spotted Psuedo-Sakura's car. As she leapt back up into the air, Sakura searched her cards again.

"Shot card!" she yelled summoning another card, "Burst the car's tyres! Release and dispel!"

Tapping the card with her wand in mid-air, Sakura smirked as a ball of spiky yellow light emerged from the card. It unleashed a barrage of energy darts each one zipping through the air with deadly accuracy.

The black rubber of the tyre's stood no chance as the energy ripped through the rubber. The car lurched to the left as Psuedo-Sakura left control, Sakura landed onto the ground and watched in satisfaction as it spun wildly around in circle before slamming into the concrete barricade protecting the side of the road. There was few brief seconds as grey smoke poured from the car's ruined engine before the whole thing ignited.

"BOOM!"

Flames shot at least fifty metres into the air as Sakura smirked in satisfaction. The whole car was engulfed by flames as the fire ripped through its fuel tank growing larger and larger with each drop of petrol it devoured.

"Survive that," she whispered softly.

The American Angel had no time to react as Psuedo-Sakura shot out from the flames and slammed her to the ground.

"Already did," the doppelganger smiled impishly, "Survive this!"

The doppelganger raised her fist and brought it down with all her might as Sakura waited for death to come.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Tomoyo floored the pedal as she raced along the road inside the car she had stolen. She looked around frantically for Meiling as she sped along the freeway. Finally she spotted her friend weaving in and out of the lanes and lanes of car as she fought to get to her. Cutting across another lane, Tomoyo rolled down her windows.

"MEILING!"

Meiling didn't even turn around as Tomoyo took a deep breath.

"MEILING!!"

The Asian Angel turned around as Tomoyo pulled up beside her.

"Psuedo-Sakura's got a new car. A red Jaguar with a missing door," Tomoyo shouted.

Meiling nodded.

"Split up!" she yelled, "It's easier..."

Before she could finish her sentence, another explosion ripped through the air.

"SAKURA!" both Angels realised.

They sped towards the direction of the explosion as Tomoyo frantically looked inside the car for a weapon she could use against the doppelganger. Obviously she was much stronger than they were and since Meiling and Sakura had the Clow cards to fight with, Tomoyo needed something more powerful than just her kicks and punches.

She found nothing.

"This sucks," she moaned.

Meiling soon realised that the explosion had occurred on the level below her as she raced down the road. Quickly she glanced to her right and froze as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. Below her, the flames continued to feed off the ruined car as Psuedo-Sakura burst from the inferno and slam Sakura to the ground.

"NO!" she yelled making a quick decision.

Tomoyo gasped in shock as she watched her friend swing the motorbike around.

"No, you idiot!" Tomoyo gasped as Meiling gunned the engine.

The Japanese Angel swore loudly as she watched her friend sailed over the edge of the road. Hurriedly she pulled up alongside the wall ignoring the fact that the car behind her almost crashed into her. Angry honks filled the air as Tomoyo stumbled out of the car.

"BLADE OF CLOW! POWER OF MAGIC! POWER OF LIGHT! SURRENDER THE SWORD! THE FORCE IGNITE! RELEASE!"

Sailing through the air, Meiling let go of the handlebars of the motorbike and clutched the sword tightly as it appeared in front of her.

"WINDY CARD! SEND THE BIKE TOWARDS THE DOPPELGANGER AND RESCUE ME! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A huge gust of wind appeared behind the bike giving it an extra push doubling its speed as a swirling vortex of wind appeared beneath Meiling's feet. It swirled around her to form a platform of sorts of Meiling's fall began slowing dramatically.

Tomoyo let out a long sigh of relief as the platform of wind set Meiling gently down onto the ground out of harm's way.

Below the doppelganger let out a scream of fury.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Sakura's eyes opened in shock as Meiling's voice roared above the sound of the speeding cars around her.

"NO!" her doppelganger looked up in horror as she saw the bike hurtling through the air aiming straight for her.

"FIERY! IGNITE THE MOTORBIKE AND PROTECT SAKURA FROM THE FLAMES! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

The Fiery sent an evil smirk toward Psuedo-Sakura gestured with her hands. The motorbike exploded in mid-air, the force of the explosion shoving Psuedo-Sakura away violently as flames leapt at her eager to devour the doppelganger as Sakura sighed in relief. A red aura surrounded her own body forcing the fire back from her as she slowly crawled to her feet.

"That must've hurt," Meiling said cheerfully.

"Oww..." Psuedo-Sakura groaned as she slowly picked herself up, "Damn."

"Fiery, Windy," Meiling said calmly, "Stri.."

"Too late," Psuedo-Sakura growled back as the burns and cuts on her body began repairing itself.

She crouched down and sprung up into the air. Sakura and Meiling gasped in shock as she sailed up at least 100 metres into the air and landed onto the section of the freeway above just beside Tomoyo.

The Japanese Angel acted instantly throwing up her defences as Psuedo-Sakura kicked her with such force that even though Tomoyo blocked it she was sent flying backwards.

"If you want your friend to leave," Psuedo-Sakura yelled down at them, "Remove the card away from me so I can teleport."

Meiling and Sakura stared up at the doppelganger in shock as she slowly walked over to Tomoyo and cruelly grabbed the Angel's long hair yanking it back viciously.

"Come on," Psuedo-Sakura growled, "I'll do it."

"Loop card!" Meiling said reluctantly, "Return to me!"

The Loop card emerged from Psuedo-Sakura's body as the doppelganger smiled triumphantly.

"I win," she hissed.

"Wait," Sakura murmured, "There's something I didn't realise before."

"What?" Meiling demanded her eyes fixed squarely on Psuedo-Sakura and Tomoyo.

"I know how to rescue Syaoran."

"What?!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Syaoran opened his eyes and found he was in a dark room.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he growled in frustration furious at himself for being captured.

Why the hell had he let his guard down?!

He didn't know who that Sakura look-alike was but she definitely wasn't the Sakura he had employed and fell in love with in that short mission at Ryan Trong's when he was posing as Xiaolang.

He tried to move his arms but found that they were bound tightly behind his back. He wriggled around and found that his whole body was bound to a chair.

"Damn," he growled.

He was trapped.

There was no way for him go get away without some kind of help. And right now, he knew that his Angels were in danger.

"Damn."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAA

"MOVE CARD! REMOVE WHATEVER TRAPS SYAORAN AND REMOVE ANYTHING THAT BLOCKS HIM FROM GETTING AWAY FROM WHEREVER MY DOPPELGANGER HAS HIDDEN HIM! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Syaoran started as two small points of pink light appeared in the darkness surrounding him.

"What the?" he whispered.

The came closer and closer as Syaoran strained to see what they were. He froze seeing they were a pair of small pink wings. They flew around him as Syaoran felt the binds that trapped him loosen before disappearing altogether. The wings flew to the door set inside the wall and made that disappeared as well as Syaoran stared at them.

"The Move card," he whispered, "What are you doing here?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

"NO!" Psuedo-Sakura screamed in rage.

"Fiery, Windy! Strike!" Meiling commanded.

A huge wave of fire soared upwards driven by furious winds as Psuedo-Sakura howled rage and vanished in a burst of white light. With a flick of her hands, the Fiery card caused the fire to roll it on itself and disappear as Tomoyo slowly got up.

"Thanks," she said hoarsely.

Sakura looked around as she and Meiling returned their cards and changed their talismans back into their smaller forms. She stared at the destruction their high-speed chase had caused as her hand slowly tightened around the key she held in her hands.

"Repair all the damage that has been done and erase all memory of anybody seeing us chasing Psuedo-Sakura," Sakura murmured as her emerald eyes began glowing with gold light.

Gold light washed over the whole freeway complex as Meiling and Tomoyo watched in fascination as the burnt skeleton of the motorcycle remade itself whole again. As the light began fading away, Sakura let out a low gasp of pain and promptly fainted.

Meiling shook her head and sighed.

"You've got to stop overdoing it," she suggested as she helped her friend up, "Let's get you home."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

Syaoran Li ran down the dimly lit hallway towards the gaping doorway where the door had been before the Move card had removed it and thought for a few brief seconds that this was too easy to be true.

And how right he was.

"Going somewhere?" a familiar voice snarled.

Syaoran whirled around to face the Sakura look-alike who had kidnapped him.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"I'm whatever that scares you," Psuedo-Sakura snarled back, "You know what really annoys me. I had this wonderful plan all set out but then the Angels had to come along with their blasted cards and ruin everything. I could have the sword right now. Hell, I could have the mirror by now. But noooo... they had to defeat me. And that's really starting to annoy me!"

Suddenly her demeanour changed from fanatic ranting to deadly calmness as she fixed Syaoran with her emerald eyes.

"And I guess you'll have to pay for it."

"I'd like to see you try," Syaoran said calmly.

A feral smile appeared on Psuedo-Sakura's face as she lunged for Syaoran.

"Fire! Come forth!" the man commanded throwing his hands out in front of him.

A huge blast of blue flames appeared from thin air shoving Psuedo-Sakura back as the stench of burning skin and hair flooded the air. Syaoran breathed calmly through his mouth as Psuedo-Sakura stood up slowly.

"The Angels aren't the only ones who have magic," Syaoran smirked.

"Who are you?" Psuedo-Sakura snarled.

"I'm Clow Reed's descendant."

Psuedo-Sakura's eyes widened in shock as Syaoran smiled at her mirthlessly.

"Water! Come forth!"

A huge wave of cold water materialised from thin air but before it could engulf Psuedo-Sakura in its icy cold embrace, the doppelganger let out a scream of rage and disappeared in a flash of light.

Syaoran watched as the water slapped the empty ground. Reaching up he casually done up his tie and exited the building, walking out into the bright blaring daylight of downtown Hong Kong as he began heading back to his mansion.

Psuedo-Sakura had lost.

Again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Thank you Angels for rescuing me," Syaoran said calmly.

"No problems," Meiling smirked.

"From what you told me about Clow Reed and the books, it seems Psuedo-Sakura would still be around until you've retrieved the third book," Syaoran continued.

The three Angels sighed.

"Have you received any clues yet on the whereabouts of the third book?" Syaoran asked.

"Nope," Tomoyo answered, "Nothing."

"That's a problem," Syaoran sighed, "My sources have came up with nothing. But I was... uh... interrupted so maybe something will come up."

"Let's hope so," Sakura said worriedly.

There was a slight silence as everybody pondered their predicament, lost in their own inner thoughts.

"Well... if that's all..."

The Angels remained silent.

"Goodbye Angels."

"Goodbye Syaoran."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

Tomoyo sighed wearily after another whole day of fruitless research. She noticed the silence inside her house and instinctively knew that Meiling, Sakura and Lily were still at the hospital visiting Marcus and Sakura's friends. Smiling at the fact that Meiling and Marcus's relationship seemed to be growing stronger with each passing day, Tomoyo lay back into her soft mattress and soon lost herself to sleep.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

She was in Yue's domain again. She could see the familiar calm placid lake bordered by the tall silent mountains that towered many leagues into the dark sky. She walked along the narrow beach searching for the guardian.

"Fox..."

Tomoyo turned around and almost jumped when she saw Yue was right behind her. She frowned, she hadn't even heard Yue come up behind her and she thought she was supposed to be very good at noticing these kind of things.

"Don't worry," Yue reassured her, "There's nothing wrong with you."

Tomoyo shivered at the thought that Yue could read her mind.

"I'm not reading your mind," Yue said uncannily answering her silent question, "I'm just very empathetic."

"Well, stop it," Tomoyo demanded slightly irritated at this mysterious guardian.

Yue smiled at her coldly as his wings flapped lazily stirring up a gentle breeze that brushed across Tomoyo's face.

"Good job at defeat Psuedo-Sakura," Yue began idly.

"You mean good job to Meiling and Sakura," Tomoyo growled, "I just stood around and did nothing!"

"Because they have their Clow cards and you don't," Yue added gently, "But soon if all goes well you will retrieve the mirror and the book."

"Great, where is the mirror and the book?" the Japanese Angel demanded.

"The book is still hidden but I have bought you here to give you the first clue to the whereabouts of the mirror," Yue took a deep breath as Tomoyo waited impatiently.

He remained silent as Tomoyo began tapping her feet.

"Well?" she asked.

Yue took another deep breath and began talking.

"Two days from now, you must arrive in London. You will goes to this address," Yue gestured with his hands and Tomoyo sucked in her breath as a piece of paper materialised from thin air floating in front of her, levitated by an invisible force.

Tentatively, she reached out and grabbed the paper. Unfolding it, she quickly scanned the address.

"152, Kingsley Court, London," Tomoyo read.

Yue nodded calmly and continued instructing her.

"You Angels will be wearing black and you will arrive at that address at exactly nine o'clock in the morning. You will tell the owner of the house, you are daughters of her grandfather's colleagues," Yue continued, "After that the rest is up to you."

"Wait!" Tomoyo scowled, "That's it? Could you be any more cryptic?"

"Yes," Yue smirked, "Just thank god Clow Reed made me swear on oath that I'll be easy on you. That's all I'm willing to say about the whereabouts of the mirror... for now"

"But... but..." Tomoyo stammered, "That can't be a..."

With a wave of Yue's hand, white light claimed Tomoyo's body and the next thing she knew she was sitting up in bed inside her bedroom and looking around in the darkness in confusion.

"DAMN YOU YUE!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Hmm... could this be considered as a cliffhanger? Oh well (shrugs). Stay tune for the next chapter!

Next chapter:

As the girls head off to London following Yue's clue, somebody from the past comes back eager to smash the Angels once and for all. However shocks are in store when they realise that somebody does know the location of the book only the real problem is... he's dead. How will the girls find out the location of the book? And who exactly is the mysterious strange from the past? Find out in... _Past and Present_

A/note: There is one thing I have to say about this chapter: writing high-speed car chases is hard! And for that reason, I don't think I did a very good job. I tried my best but I reckon this is one of my worse chapters. Am I right? Or did I did an okay job? Please tell me!

Oh and next chapter, prepare yourself to meet another CCS character!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!


	25. Past and Present

Sorry for the massive delay between updates but I got major writer's block however this is probably the longest chapter yet! 

PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! I will not update until I have 20+ new reviews!

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

Syaoran's Angels 

**Chapter 24: Past and Present**

Sakura and Tomoyo sighed in exasperation as Meiling began grumbling for about the one-millionth time. It had been bad enough sitting in a small uncomfortable economy flight seat for god knows how many hours but to make things worse Meiling seemed to be have picked up the annoying habit of muttering under her breath at exactly the same moment every time Sakura or Tomoyo tried to get some sleep.

"Stop it!" Sakura snapped finally out of patient.

Meiling merely sent her fellow Angel her infamous death glare.

"Leave her alone," Tomoyo whispered softly to Sakura acting as the mediator once again. 

She knew full why well Meiling was so annoyed about this. It wasn't only because of the fact that they were following a very cryptic set of instructions given to them by a mysterious magical guardian. It was because of Marcus, who after spending a day at the hospital was released and Meiling had seemed genuinely delighted at the idea of spending time with him until that was Tomoyo dropped her bombshell about Yue's cryptic instructions. Describing Meiling's reaction as angry would be like describing a hurricane as a gentle breeze. Tomoyo knew Meiling was not reacting out of the though of missing out on quality time with her boyfriend (she wondered when Meiling would start calling him that) but rather the fear of something happening to him and Lily whilst she was gone. Because of this, she had summoned the Elementals and told them quite flatly they were to protect Marcus and Lily and if anything happened to them...

Even the usually calm Earthy card had begun quaking under the glare Meiling had given them.

Sakura fell silent as Meiling continued to stare worryingly out the plane window fidgeting with her hands as Tomoyo and Sakura exchanged worried glances.

"Don't worry," Tomoyo said delicately, "Nothing will happen to them."

"I'm just..." Meiling sighed.

She fell silent as Sakura and Tomoyo waited patiently.

"Scared," Meiling said quietly.

The two Angels stared at her as Meiling blushed vividly as her hands began fidgeting again.

"I'm scared that something will happen and I'll never see them again," the Asian Angel continued softly, "It's silly but..."

"It's not silly. You're just worried about a loved one," Sakura said calmly, " But don't you remember? Didn't Wood and Sand say they took care of Mallus?"

Meiling nodded thoughtfully as she wondered what really happened to Mallus, according to the Wood card Sand had 'taken care' of him. Meiling had a good idea what that meant but she wasn't a hundred percent sure.

"I suppose," she said hesitantly.

"So..." Tomoyo said idly, "When's the wedding?"

"WHAT?!?"

~~~~~

Yue turned around calmly as Kerberos glided down from the sky and landed expertly in front of him. Folding his immense wings, Kerberos cleared his throat and fixed the moon guardian with his fierce amber eyes.

"Yes?" Yue asked placidly.

"Why?" Kerberos growled.

A humourless smile flickered across Yue's lips.

"Why what?" he replied tranquilly arching an eyebrow inquisitively.

Kerberos narrowed his eyes and growled under his breath as Yue chuckled.

"Patience, my friend," the guardian smirked.

"Why did you erase her memory?" Kerberos demanded, "Why did you erase the Fox's memory of who poisoned her?"

Yue turned away from Kerberos and faced the wide watery expanse of the placid lake that dominated his domain. When he spoke, his voice sounded as though it was coming from very far away.

"Do you not see?" he asked, "The wheels of time is turning and slowly, ever so slowly the pieces of the puzzle moves in place. I have need for Fox's poisoner... and her true love. He will play a major role in what is to come."

"What role will he play?" Kerberos growled, "Is he going to harm the three or help them?"

"Harm or help?" Yue sighed and turned back to Kerberos, "Even I can not see."

"And you erased Fox's memory knowing that he may eventually kill her?!? I thought you were her guardian!" Kerberos exploded angrily.

"Killer or saviour, Clow Reed's half-reincarnation is needed alive and well," Yue smiled mysteriously, "Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?" Kerberos demanded.

"Clow Reed's words," Yue replied simply before taking a deep breath and began speaking again, his voice becoming louder with each word that spilled from his lips.

"The one that was one shall split and the two shall never know each other. When the darkness come, they shall be made whole and their remaking shall turn the tide."

Kerberos stared at Yue in bewilderment as the guardian sent him a final mysterious smile before spreading his wings and taking flight, disappearing into the tall mountains of his realm.

Kerberos huffed under his breath and clacked his teeth together in frustration.

"Stupid cryptic clues," he snarled before spreading his wings and taking flight.

~~~~

The wide mahogany door of 152 Kingsley Court, London opened revealing three women dressed demurely in various black-coloured clothing. Tomoyo, wearing an elegant black suede jacket and dress with hints of gold jewellery glittering at her neck and wrists, smiled politely as the butler who opened the door eyed them calmly.

"I believe you're here for the..." the man took a deep breath before speaking obviously fighting back his emotions, "Funeral?"

"Yes, we are," Sakura, said softly dressed in a two piece black-suit, her black skirt swishing in the cold English air as she walked through the door as the butler stepped aside.

Meiling, wearing a simple black dress that highlighted the darkness of her hair and the redness of her lips and ruby eyes, nodded to her friends as they followed the butler down the hallway, the heels of their shoes clacking against the hard marble as bright sunlight poured in from the many tall windows that lined the walls of the corridor.

"This way, miss," the butler opened another door revealing a large room where a cheery fire danced in an ornate fireplace battling the cold outside with its gentle heat.

Clusters of people turned around to regard the newcomers before dismissing them and turning back to conversation, the muffled sounds of their talking filling the air. Tomoyo studied the room and noted the antiquity of the furniture, the rarity of the paintings that hung on the wall and noted with interested that lining the walls was bookshelf after bookshelf of books crammed in until they almost spilled out onto the thickly carpeted floor.

"Myles, thank you," a young woman disengaged herself from a group of people and walked over to them smiling politely at the Angels before turning to the butler, "Can you please..."

Myles bowed courteously to the woman before walking away as Sakura studied the woman standing in front of them. She had light chestnut hair that was styled so that it just stopped at the nape of her neck, a pair of sad brown eyes stared at them through the lenses of the thinly framed glasses that perched on top of her small pixie-like nose.

She sent them a sad smile as her eyes blinked in confusion.

"Excuse me," she asked with a polite smile, "I don't believe I've seen you before."

Tomoyo sent her an apologetic smile as she silently thanked Yue for giving her a lie to work with.

"We're daughters of your grandfather's colleague," she lied easily, "Sadly, they couldn't be here and sent us in their steads."

"Oh," the woman paused for a few seconds, "In that case, I'm Nikki Yanagizawa. George was my grandfather..."

She trailed off as she blinked furiously trying to fight back tears.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Sakura said sympathetically, her emotions genuine, "We heard from our fathers how good a man your grandfather was."

Nikki sent a thankful smile as Tomoyo and Meiling exchanged glances wondering how on earth Sakura had figured out who the funeral was for.

Nikki turned around as someone gently called her name and sent the Angels a small smile.

"Sorry but I really must go," she said politely.

"No worries," Meiling smiled back as Nikki walked away.

"How did you know?" Tomoyo asked turning to her friend.  
In response, Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on," she smirked, "Nikki's reaction when she mentioned her grandfather? Wasn't it pretty obvious?"

Meiling and Tomoyo exchanged another look as the Asian Angel shrugged delicately.

Tomoyo sighed as she turned back to Sakura.

"What do we do now?" she asked softly.

Sakura and Meiling shot her an incredulous look.

"You mean you don't know?" Sakura demanded, "I thought Yue told you everything!"

"Well, he didn't!" Tomoyo bristled, "He's the most annoying, cryptic..."

Realising that she was a little too loud for comfort, she dropped her voice down to a whisper.

"Let's just say he didn't tell much, okay?" Tomoyo hissed.

Sakura nodded as the door to the room opened again, Myles appearing this time with a tall ruggedly handsome man who was dressed in a suit that screamed money and sophistication. A silence descended onto the gathering as most of the women stared admiringly at the tall honey-blonde haired man whose emerald green eyes roved around the room, obviously searching for someone.

The three Angels studied the man's face as Sakura frowned in confusion, startled at the thought that he looked very familiar. 

But that was impossible... wasn't it?

Sakura bit her lip as she fought to remember where she had seen him before.

She was sure she had seen him before...

But where?

She was startled out of her thoughts as a somewhat high-pitched scream of delighted surprise ripped through the room causing everyone to cringe at the sound.

"Michael!" Nikki practically burst from a crowd of people and ran towards the man as a bright smile lit up his face.

"Nikki!" he said happily, his voice carrying a slight French accent.

Everybody stared as 'Michael' swept Nikki up into a tight hug as she hugged him back fiercely.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh god," she whispered, "Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no no."

"What?" Meiling demanded her voice barely above a whisper, "Oh no what?"

"It's him," Sakura whispered back as memories began rushing into her head, "It's him. Marseille, I remember now."

"Who?" Tomoyo asked frowning in confusion.

"He's the head of the French Mafia."

~~~~~

Eriol opened the door to his hotel room.

"Ruflac!" he gasped as the Russian mob leader glared back at him.

"One week," the man snarled as he charged into the room pushing Eriol inside before turning around and slamming the door shut, "One week, they'll be dead. That's what you promised me! How long has it been? How long has it been?"

Eriol's mind was working furiously trying to figure out how Marcus Ruflac had find him as the mobster glared at him venomously.

"Well?" he scowled.

Eriol shrugged as his usual calm façade dropped over his face hiding his shock and fear.

"There has been some..." Eriol searched for the right word, "Complications."

"Then fix it!" Marcus Ruflac snarled.

"I can't," Eriol replied calmly.

There was a deadly silence as Ruflac's face seemed to become redder and redder with each eternal second that passed. Eriol was feeling distinctively apprehensive although his face was an unreadable mask.  

"I thought you were the best," Ruflac said coldly.

"I am," Eriol replied his voice as frigid as his employer's.

Another silence filled the room as Ruflac's anger faded away replaced by a small sadistic smile.

"At least I thought you were..." 

Eriol blinked in surprise at the comment as the other man's smile grew wider and wider with each passing second.

"You're fired."

"What?" Eriol gasped as Ruflac continued to grin manically at him. 

"You heard me, you're fired," Ruflac snarled.

Eriol gaped at him as Ruflac smirked at him.

"You're finished Eriol," he sneered, "Once everyone finds out you can't finish a job you've started you're finished. No one will ever hire you again. No one. I never should've trusted you to finish this job, it seems I have to do it myself."

And with that Ruflac whirled around and stormed out of the hotel room leaving a stunned assassin behind.

Suddenly Eriol gasped as he realised what Ruflac had said.

"Tomoyo..."

~~~~~

"What?" Meiling and Tomoyo gasped at the same time as they stared at Sakura in shock.

Sakura nodded as she watched Michael whisper something in Nikki's ears causing her to blush before smile at him shyly.

"Yeah, remember that mission in Marseille a year ago?" Sakura asked.

She was met with blank stares.

"Oh god," Sakura sighed, "Remember?"

Another round of black stares greeted her as Sakura rolled her eyes and resisted to urge to ground her teeth together in frustration.  

"You know the Paris nightclub?" Sakura growled, "The simple 'flirt and extract information' mission?"

Meiling gasped.

"You mean the one which ended up with us having to blow up the nightclub?" she asked.

Sakura nodded as Tomoyo's eyes lit up.

"That one," Tomoyo's jaws dropped in shock as her eyes roved to where Michael and Nikki was still hugging, "Uh oh..."

Sakura nodded.

"Big uh oh," she agreed.

Meiling sighed.

"Now what do we do?"

The three Angels turned to regard Nikki and Michael as they fell silent and tried to figure out their next move.

As they watched the couple kiss each other passionately, Tomoyo couldn't help but wonder what complex game Yue was playing.

One thing was sure, next time she saw him she was going to give Yue a piece of her mind.

A sadistic smile lit up Tomoyo's face as she thought about that with relish.

Next time...

~~~~~

Nikki pulled away from her boyfriend and smiled up at him delightedly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Michael chuckled as he tenderly stroked her cheek gently.

"To make sure you're okay," he said softly.

"Thank you," Nikki said softly, touched.

Michael smiled at him revealing perfect white teeth as he looked around.

"Are they your friends?" he asked gesturing with his head towards a trio of young women standing near the door.

Nikki looked past her boyfriend's broad shoulder and shook her head.

"Their daughters of Grandpa's colleagues," she explained, "I've never seen them before until today."

Michael was silent as he studied them carefully.

"Michael?" Nikki asked concerned, "What's wrong?"

When her boyfriend turned to look at her, Nikki blinked in surprise seeing the worried expression on his face.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen one of them before," Michael said slowly.

"One of your old girlfriends?" Nikki teased.

Michael laughed.

"Why can't you be one of those jealous types?" he asked, "All of the other girls I've been with are always like that."

"I'm not like other girls," Nikki reminded him.

"Mmmm... don't I know it," Michael teased back with a roguish wink.

Nikki giggled and slapped him gently on the chest as a hurt look appeared on her boyfriend's face.

"Ow, that hurts!" he moaned with a dramatic look of pain on his face.

"Awww..." Nikki cooed, "You want to me kiss it better for you?"

Michael sent Nikki a brilliant grin before claiming her lips with his own. Nikki sighed happily against his lips unaware of the fact that the trio of girls they had been discussing about was studying them intently.

~~~~~~

"Okay, this is just plain confusing," Tomoyo said softly.

Sakura and Meiling nodded.

"Are you sure he's the same guy from Marseille?" Meiling hissed.

Sakura nodded her head.

"Positive."

The three Angels watched the man as he and Nikki kissed each other ignoring the jealous looks most of the women inside the room shot them.

"Well, this complicates things," Tomoyo said finally.

"I still don't get it though," Sakura, said slowly, "What are we supposed to do here? We came here but what now? We don't have any idea how this place is tied with the mirror or the third book."

The girls fell silent as they contemplated their newest predicament. They were interrupted from their thoughts as the door to the room opened once again revealing the butler, this time accompanied by a dark-haired man who had an arrogant sneer pasted across his face.

His eyes seemed to light up with malice as they fell upon the kissing Nikki and Michael. 

"Michael Dupree," the man snarled shoving the butler ruthlessly aside as he stalked towards the tall blonde-haired man.

Michael sprung away from his girlfriend as he stared at the man who was storming towards him.

"Anthony Collins," Michael said slowly his eyes darting around nervously, "What are you doing here?"

"Revenge," Anthony snarled viciously.

Tomoyo gasped in shock as she recognised the name.

"Oh god," she whispered.

"What? Who the hell is he?" Meiling demanded.

"Anthony Collins, leader of the British cell of the Cobra Mark," Tomoyo murmured slowly.

"Cobra Mark?" Sakura asked, "Isn't that the terrorist group that was operating in Poland a while ago?"

Tomoyo nodded.

"Collins has been linked with various assassinations, thefts, heists, murders and... and... and..." she trailed off when she realise if she was to name all his crimes, she would be here for hours, "Anyway he's here. That means bad news."

"How bad?" Sakura demanded.

Tomoyo merely stared at her.

"Oh."

"Come on out, boys!" Anthony cried his accented voice echoing throughout the room, "It's time for Mr. Dupree to find out what happens when he messes with us!"

"BOOM!" 

Loud screams pierced the air as the tall windows lining the walls exploded inwards spraying everyone with broken glass as heavily armed men charged in through the shattered windows.

"Kill them all!" Anthony commanded venomously, "Except for Dupree and his little girlfriend."

A wicked smile lit up his face.

"They're mine," he finished, "And remember kill them slowly. I want Dupree to hear their screams."

More screams pierced the air as each of the heavily armed men holstered their guns and pulled out long gleaming machetes.

"This was unexpected," Sakura quipped as she tossed her fellow Angels an easy smirk.

A wicked smile lit up Meiling's face as Tomoyo rolled her eyes and sighed wishing she wasn't wearing a dress.

Sakura strolled towards the closest thug and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Can I borrow that?" she asked innocently as the man whirled around and leered at her.

Deftly she grabbed his arm as he tried to swing the blade at her and kicked him viciously in the knees dislocating his kneecap with a loud crunch. Ignoring his scream of pain, Sakura punched him in the face and dropped him as he fell to the ground, out cold.

"Who's next?" the Angel chirped.

"GET HER!" Anthony snarled, his face going red with fury.

Before anybody could react, Meiling took out another thug with a jump kick that sent him flying across the room. Tomoyo easily dispatched her chosen opponent with a spin-kick to the side of his head.

Nikki stared at these three strange girls as they smirked at Anthony.

"Three down," Sakura smirked.

"I hope you've got more than that," Tomoyo said a wicked smile dancing across her lips.  
"Because we're just getting warm up," Meiling finished.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!" a fierce warcry burst from one of the thug's lips as he charged at them.

"HIYA!" Tomoyo kicked the knife out of his hands and elbowed him in the face in one liquid movement eliciting a scream of pain from him as he clutched as his broken nose.

"CRACK!"

A kick to the head finished him off as more thugs charged at them. Meiling leapt into the air and spreading her legs, kicked with all the strength she had sending two of the thugs flying in opposite directions. Landing lightly on her feet, she nimbly sidestepped a wild knife slash and punched the wielder in the chest pushing him violently backwards. Spinning elegantly on the balls of her heels, she whirled around before landing a powerful kick to his chest lifting him several centimetres off the ground before gravity grabbed him of his body and yanked him violently down to earth with a loud thud.

Spotting a brief opening, Sakura lunged at her chosen enemy grabbing him around his waist using her momentum to swing him around with her attached. Letting go she sailed through the air and planted both of her legs into another man's chest throwing him backwards as she nimbly back-flipped and landed with feline grace on her feet. 

"WHAT THE HELL?" Anthony roared, "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?"

"How?" Meiling smirked, "We're Angels."

Michael's eyes widened in shock as Nikki gaped at them in surprise.

"Wha... who are you?" she whispered still stunned by these mysterious women.

"Bitches!" Anthony snarled.

The Angel's eyes widened in shock as he pulled something out of his pocket and held it up for them to see.

"Uh oh," Meiling whispered as Anthony pulled the pin and hurled it at them.

"BOOM!"

The grenade hit the ground several metres in front of them and promptly exploded. The concussive waves shoved the Angels violently backwards as Anthony chuckled.

"OOF!" Sakura crashed into a nearby bookshelf the wood shattering under the impact as splinters bit into her back.

"CRACK!" The back of Meiling's head met painfully with the hard marble of the walls as she slid to the ground desperately trying to keep awake

"BAM!" Tomoyo sailed through the air and landed heavily on her pack as pain roared through ever nerve inside her body. She coughed violently as she struggled to sit up only to fall back down again as numbness flooded through her body.

The last thing the Tomoyo heard before slipping off into unconsciousness was Anthony's voice.

"Take her," he commanded, "Oh and Mr. Dupree? My list of commands will come within the hour. Good day to you."

Darkness flooded her senses and the next thing Tomoyo knew she was staring up into a pair of mirthful emerald eyes.

~~~~~

Lilia growled in frustration as she paced around her office.

"I want him dead," she ranted furiously as her secretary William quaked in the corner of the room wishing he was anywhere else but here.

"That bastard! That nasty son of a..." Lilia let out a vicious hiss as she seemed to calm down even though her eyes were still burning with demonic light, "I. Want. Him. Dead."

"Yes, Ms. Faren," William whispered.

"Contact my sources," Lilia commanded briskly, "All of them. Find the most deadly assassin out there and bring him here. I don't care how much it costs, just do it. Oh, and call her up here as well."

William was visibly startled.

"Her?"

Lilia nodded and ploughed on ignoring her assistant's shocked look.

"Check up on Rika," Lilia sighed, "Stupid idiot, imagine getting shot twice! Tell her if she doesn't finish up the job soon, she's dead."

William nodded hurriedly as Lilia nodded curtly to him.

"Dismissed," she said crisply.

Her assistant quickly gathered up his things and left as quick as he could, slamming the door shut in his haste to leave the presence of his somewhat psychotic boss.

Lilia toyed with the idea of firing him for a few seconds but dismissed it knowing that she didn't have the time to re-hire someone.

Plonking herself down onto her expensive leather chair, she pulled out a tumble glass and a flask of brandy and pulled herself a good drink

Leaning back into her chair and sipping the alcohol, Lilia waited for miracles to happen.

Or else she had to deal with that fool Zachary.

~~~~~~

"Good morning," Michael said cheerfully looking down at her.

Tomoyo blinked at him slowly as she tried to move her body.

"Ow," she winced as a throb of pain shot up her arm.

"Careful," Michael suggested quickly steadying her.

"What are they?" Tomoyo demanded looking around wildly, "Where are my friends? Are they okay?"

"We're here," she heard a familiar voice say dryly

Tomoyo looked to her side and saw that both Meiling and Sakura were standing there watching her worriedly.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked worried, "You were the most injured out of all of us. And you're been out for about an hour."

"I'm fine," Tomoyo said grimacing in pain as she sat up slowly, "Where are we?"

"You're inside my safehouse in a secure location," Michael said easily.

"He knows?" Tomoyo asked staring at her friends.

Meiling nodded.

"He knows," she said curtly.

Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because we need Nikki and he wants Nikki," Meiling explained sighing in frustration, "Obviously Yue set this up for some unknown reason of his."

"Yue?" Michael asked confused.

"Long story," Tomoyo said dryly, "So what the hell happened?"

Michael's eyes seemed to burn with an inner demonic light as his hands clenched into two hard fists.

"The bastard got her," he hissed, "And he's going to pay. Dearly."

"Bastard?" Tomoyo asked.

"Anthony Collins," Sakura clarified.

"Oh."

Fury continued to roll off Michael in almost palpable waves as he began talking again.

"I've just found that the British branch of Cobra Mark is planning to steal a newly created synthetic toxin from right here in London," Michael said slowly, "That's the reason he was here, he must've found out about me also being here by accident or something."

"What are you planning to do with this information?" Meiling asked curiously.

A chilling smile danced across Michael's lips as each girl gulped seeing the promise of death inside his emerald eyes.

"I'm going to kill him."

An awkward silence descended onto the room as Michael closed his eyes and relished the thought of killing his enemy.

"No wait," a quiet voice broke through the voices inside his head as he stared at the speaker in surprise.

"What?" he snarled, "You're going to let him live? This is the perfect opportunity to kill him once and for all. This is..."

Sakura smiled at him wickedly.

"I've got an idea." 

~~~~~

Anthony Collins watched dispassionately as the guard walked up to the van door.

"Sir, may I see some identific..."

The ruthless criminal merely drew out his gun and shot the guard in the chest, the silencer on the barrel muffling the sound as the man crumpled to the ground blood pouring from the hole in his chest.

"Let's roll boys," he smirked talking to the rest of his team hiding inside the vans.

The door to the van rolled open as a group of heavily armed men spilled out, their dark clothing blending in with the darkness of the night. Holstering up his gun, Anthony pushed the van door open and staring disdainfully down at the pool of blood forming on the ground, he stepped over the dead guard's body and followed his men towards the glass and concrete building he had been ordered to raid.

"This my boys," he said to his team, "Will be a breeze."

A member of their team up to the tiny booth standing by the side of the driveway, breaking the tiny window dispassionately with the butt of his rifle he reached inside and opened the gates. 

"You and you," Anthony barked pointing to two members of their team, "Take the van and hide it nearby we'll need a getaway car."

The two men nodded and climbed into the van and reversed out of the driveway as the rest of the men readied their guns.

"Let's go," Anthony commanded as they strolled towards the building.

~~~~~

"I hate this," Michael growled.

"Don't worry," Tomoyo assured him, "We'll pull it off."

The worry look didn't leave Michael's face as Tomoyo began typing into the laptop that rested on the desk standing in front of her. Her fingers flew across the keys as she hacked into the factory's security systems.

"So remind again what we're hoping to pull off here?" Michael asked.

Tomoyo sighed as she easily by-passed the preliminary security defences protecting the factory's systems.

"Meiling is acting as back-up to Sakura as she tries to enter the factory and steal the toxin right before Anthony's eyes. She will then try to establish some sort of communication with him and draw him out into open with a bargaining deal of some sort," Tomoyo explained, "We're hoping Sakura can either get into his stronghold here in London or better yet trade Nikki for the toxin."

Michael nodded, satisfied.

"Let's hope this works," he said with a sigh.

Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock as a bright red warning sign flashed onto the screen.

"Uh oh," she mumbled typing furiously.

"Uh oh?" Michael snapped to attention," What's wrong?"

"Seems like Anthony tapped into systems beforehand," Tomoyo said grimly, "He set a virus in place to stop anyone else from getting in."

"Can you get through it?" Michael demanded.

Tomoyo shrugged.

"It's a variant of the computer virus known as Doomsday," Tomoyo paused for a few seconds, "I've never seen this variation before. Might take me a while."

"Do you need help?" Michael asked.

"That'll be good," Tomoyo threw a glance behind her shoulder, "But somehow I don't think you'll be the one helping me."

Michael set her a mysterious smile before pulling out his mobile phone from his suit pocket and punching in a series of numbers.

"Gary?" he said, "Get here. Now."

He snapped the phone shut and slid it back to his pocket.

"Help is on its way."

Tomoyo nodded and continued typing as fast as she could.

"Guys?" she said into the microphone dangling down from the headphones she swore.

_'Yeah?' _Sakura asked, _'What's up.'_

"There's a slight problem," Tomoyo said calmly, "Go on without me."

_'Okay.'_

The line went dead as Tomoyo smiled grimly and settled herself for a long battle ahead.

~~~~~

"Ready?" Meiling asked studying her fellow Angel's face.

Sakura nodded as the two Angels stared down at the surroundings below from their vantage point on top of the factory's roof.

"Ready," she smirked wickedly.

Meiling grimaced as she studied Sakura's clothing.

"God, how can you go out in that?" Meiling muttered.

"Hey, it was the only feminie clothing lying around Michael's safe house at the time," Sakura pulled a face, "Which seriously raises some questions about what kind of woman he likes." 

She paused.

"So It's not my fault I like a two-timing boyfriend-stealer," Sakura finished off looking down at her clothes.

She was dressed in a dark crimson leather body suit that hugged her way too tightly for Meiling or Sakura's liking. A pair of black leather boots covered her feet as Sakura flexed her fists studying how her black gloves moved. A lightning-blue wig hid her auburn hair as bright azure contact lenses covered her emerald eyes. Thick purple lipstick coated her lips and violet eyeliner bought out the blueness of the contact lenses as Sakura struck a pose.

"So what do you think?" she asked twirling around with ease.

"You look like some kind of freaky, kinky hooker," Meiling told her flatly.

"Thanks," Sakura drawled back.

Meiling smiled.

"Let's go."

~~~~~

"Good," Anthony noted as the door slid open with a loud hiss.

The various guards inside whirled around in surprise as Anthony smirked at them.

"Good evening," he said as he calmly raised his gun and fired.

The force of the bullet sent a guard sprawling against the wall as blood oozed from the gaping hole in his chest. All around the room similar carnage took place as the guards were ruthlessly gunned down.

Anthony's eyes scanned the room and seeing no survivors, he smiled.

"Next one," he commanded as they walked out of the room. 

~~~~~

Sakura walked calmly over to the skylight and kicked out the glass without blinking an eye.

"Down the rabbit hole I go," she murmured to herself with a wry smile as she leapt through the broken skylight and down into the factory below.

Landing with feline grace, she crouched down her senses on high alert. Silence greeted her, satisfied her entry had not been noticed she relaxed slightly before speaking to the tiny com-link hidden in the right cuff of her body suit.

"I'm in."

~~~~~

'Gary' sat beside her typing as fast as she was as they worked together to slowly dismantle the safeguard Anthony Collins had set in place.

"Done," Gary announced.

Tomoyo hit a final button and smiled as the computer virus dissolved revealing the layout of the building's security systems.

"I'm in," Tomoyo announced.

_'I'm in,'_ Sakura's tiny voice came through the headphones.

"She's in," Tomoyo added.

"Good," Michael nodded to Gary who sensing that he was dismissed snapped his laptop shut and quietly left the room, "Where is she?"

Tomoyo glanced at the window that popped up on her screen showing what each of the security cameras inside the building was seeing.

"She's in Sector A47, which is fairly close to where the toxin is being stored, which is Sector F28," Tomoyo explained.

"Collins?" Michael growled.

"D09," Tomoyo brought up the blueprints of the building, "Sakura should arrive there several minutes before he does."

"Good," Michael murmured, a predatory smile appeared on his face, "Make sure she gets there on time."

Tomoyo nodded and began directing Sakura towards the Sector F28.

~~~~~

"CRACK!"

Sakura whip-turned and took dropped another guard with a flying kick that caught him in the shoulder that threw him back violently. Landing on the points of her toes, she whirled around like a ballerina her left foot shooting out to crash into another guard in an atemi strike. He toppled to the ground as Sakura finished off the final guard by throwing a powerful haymaker that sent him toppling to the ground. She leapt into a battle stance every part of her body ready to attack as she looked around at the downed guards. Assured that they were all down for the count, Sakura fell into a more relaxed stance.

"This sucks," she moaned, "This bloody suit is _hot_!"

_'Stop whining and start running,' _Tomoyo warned her, '_Anthony is about five minutes away from the room that's housing the toxin.' _

"Yay," Sakura muttered sarcastically raising her right wrist up to her mouth and speaking into her com-link, "Running around in this bloody thing. Fun galore!"

_'Just go,' _Tomoyo told her, amused, _'Clock's ticking. Tick tock, tick tock.'_

Sakura rolled her eyes and ran down the hallway following her friend's directions as she wondered anxiously where Anthony Collins was. 

~~~~~

"Come on gentlemen," Anthony smiled charmingly at the wall of security guards that blocked the hallway, "Please move out of my way and nobody gets hurt."

In response they raised their guns at him, Anthony sighed and gestured to his team.

"Attack," he said calmly.

In one fluid motion, his team raised their gun and fired not giving the guards a chance to recover.

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"  
Down they went in a cascade of blood as Anthony smirked at them.

"Told you to get out of my way," he said calmly stepping over the bloody bodies.

He turned back to the members of his team.

"Come on, men," he announced, "Only a few more hallways to go through then we're there."

His team nodded as Anthony whirled around and walked briskly down the hallway ignoring the carnage that lay behind him.

The rest of his team quickly followed, their guns raised ready and willing to fire.

~~~~~

"CRACK!" Sakura slammed the guard's face into the wall and dropped him as he fell to the ground, out cold.

She raised her wrist up to her mouth and spoke quickly into the com-link hidden in the cuff of her body suit.

"I'm there," she announced.

_'Good,' _Tomoyo replied, _'You should be able to see some kind of sliding door.'_

Sakura looked around and quickly spotted it. Darting over to the white door with the words 'Authorised Personnel Only' printed warningly on it in dark red letters, Sakura spoke again into her com-link.

"Yeah, I'm standing right beside it," Sakura told her friend on the other line, "Now what?"

_'According to the blueprints of this building…' _Tomoyo paused whilst she read the information that raced across her laptop screen, _'You should be able to see a locking mechanism of some sort to the left of the door. A number pad mechanism to be precise.'_

Sakura walked over to it and studied the tiny number pad.

"What's the code?" Sakura asked.

_'The code is useless,' _Tomoyo informed her grimly, _'It's designed to only work between the hours of 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Any other time it is triggered an alarm goes off.'_

"Then what?" Sakura muttered, disgruntled.

_'Okay,' _Tomoyo took a deep breath, _'Do you have a knife with you?'_

Sakura glanced to her right and smirked seeing a tiny pocketknife hanging off the belt of one of the security officers she had taken down just minutes ago. Strolling over to him, she knelt down and yanked the knife free. Walking back to the number pad, she casually flicked the knife open and smiled seeing its keen blade.

"Got one," Sakura announced.

_'Good, remove the covering.'_

Sakura slid the blade under the covering of the number pad and under a few seconds of straining and pushing the blade in further, a long thin crack zigzagged across the surface of the plastic before the whole covering popped off falling to the ground in long jagged pieces of broken plastic.

"Okay, what next.'

_'See the red and green wires?' _Tomoyo asked.

Sakura studied the veritable jungle of multi-coloured wires that nested in the exposed number pad and gulped.

"Wait, give me a sec," Sakura poked around gingerly inside until she spotted the two Tomoyo wanted, "Yeah, what next?"__

_'Cut them.'_

Sakura ripped the blade across the surface of two wires and smiled as they instantly shredded.

"What now?'

_'Touch the ends of the red and the green together…' _Tomoyo continued.

Sakura gently touched the two ends together and jumped as a blue spark leapt between the two. She let out a low gasp as the door slid open shooting up into the wall and disappearing from sight.

_'… and open sesame,' _Tomoyo finished smugly.

"Thanks," Sakura muttered as she pushed the blade back into the pocketknife and slid it into the folds of her crimson leather suit.

She walked into the room and stopped staring at the computers that lined the pristine white walls of the room, images and data flashed across the computer at a lightning-fast pace throwing small splashes of rainbow-coloured light across the walls as Sakura ignored them as her eyes were drawn to the small sterile metal door that was sunk into the far wall. Confidently she strode towards the door and give the handle a good yank, she opened the door releasing a plume of grey smoke and a rush of cold air. Reaching into the darkness within, Sakura could feel several test tubes inside. Pulling the out and holding up to the brilliant light, Sakura studied their contents. The liquid inside was a vivid acid green and so thick that it clung to the side of glass as Sakura tipped the test tube this way and that way noting how tightly sealed these test tubes were. Putting back into the cooler they had come from, Sakura spoke into her com-link.

"Got them.'

_'Good,' _Tomoyo sounded slightly tense, _'Anthony is almost there. Get out of there!'_

Sakura nodded and opened up a series of small flaps along the arm of her body suit. Slipping the test tubes inside, Sakura closed the flaps and whirled around to get out. Too late did she notice the thin beam of red light that ran across the length of the room, before she could react her foot came down cutting off the beam of concentrated red light.

"Uh oh," she managed to say before blaring sirens and flashing lights drowned out all other noises.

"DAMN IT!" Sakura raced towards the door as it began to slide shut. 

She lunged at the door and narrowly passed through it as it slammed shut just behind her clipping the soles of her boots. She landed clumsily on the other side but quickly jumped up and glanced around.  

To her horror, more unyielding doors were emerged from the ceiling of the hallway blocking out her exists as they came crashing down to the floor blocking the hallway as Sakura grimaced and whirled around racing towards the door as it began sealing off the hallway. 

With a small cry, she leapt at it and slid under the door as it crashed down behind her sealing off the hallway she had just been in. Jumping up, Sakura raced towards another hallway as door after door after door slid down with a faint hiss slowly blocking off more and more exits.

"TOMOYO!" she yelled into her com-link, "Why didn't you warn me about the motion detector?"

_'Ummm…' _Tomoyo trailed off, _'Sorry?'_

"SORRY?!?" Sakura exploded, "Yeah, great help now."

_'Just get out of there,' _Tomoyo commanded, _'I'm contacting Meiling.'_

"Readying the chopper?" Sakura asked as she raced down the hallway.

_'Already did.'_

~~~~~__

"What in the blazes?!?" Anthony growled as the sound of blaring sirens ripped through the air.

"Somebody must have triggered the alarm," one of his men said appearing beside him.

Anthony bit back the sarcastic remark that threatened to spill from his lips and instead turned to the rest of the team.

"It's no good," he said grimly, "We have to turn back."

He gave them a final curt nod before whirling around and running down the way they come. The sound of hard boots slapping against the smooth surface of the floor told him that his men were following.

=Who the hell triggered the alarm?= Anthony wondered as he ran down the hallway.

He had been so sure that the safeguard he had placed on the security would work. Anthony gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his gun.

If he ever find out who triggered the alarm…

"BAM!"

"What the hell?" Anthony was sent sprawling as he ran into leather-clad body.

The blue-haired woman jumped back in shock as she stared at Anthony who was sprawled unceremoniously across the floor. Her bright azure eyes widened in shock.

"Anthony," she gasped.

"BITCH!" Anthony raised his gun to fire but before he could pull the trigger, the woman's booted foot shot out and kicked the gun from his grip. 

"Nice try," she tossed as stood their arms crossed against her chest, "But no cigar."  
"GET HER!" he roared.

The rest of his men raised their guns but before they could react the woman was sprinting down the hall, her lightning blue hair streaming behind her as Anthony leapt up to his feet.

"AFTER HER!" he yelled racing down after the woman, his leather coat streaming behind him like a cape.

Down the hallway he ran as the mysterious leather-clad woman put on an extra spurt of speed.

"Oh no you don't!" Anthony snarled sprinting after her.

"Sssssssss…" the faint hiss was the only warning before another obdurate door slid down from the ceiling cutting the rest of his team off.

"We're trapped!" one of them screamed, his voice muffled by the thickness of the wall.

"Fend for yourselves!" Anthony snapped ignoring them as he chased after the woman who had darted around a corner, "TRIGGER THE ALARM WON'T YOU?!? You're going to pay in blood, my dear!"

Intent on his prey, Anthony was completely unprepared when he turned the corner and was taken down by a right hook to the face.

"All talk and no walk?" the woman sneered, "Sorry honey, light's out!"

Anthony staggered by her first blow could only blink owlishly at her as she launched into a back flip. Both of her feet shot out and slammed into his chin hurling him back violently as the woman landed gracefully.

"You want the toxin?" the woman smirked as darkness clawed at the edges of his consciousness, "Tomorrow night, ten o'clock.  Warehouse 16, Thames River. Be there or miss out."

That was the last thing he heard before darkness claimed his senses and he knew no more.

~~~~~

Sakura kicked open the wooden door and ran up the long spiral staircase up to the roof. Kicking the second door open, Sakura ran across the flat surface and sighed in relief as she spotted Meiling.

"Have fun?" her friend asked arching an eyebrow, "There's been a lot of noise."

"Don't ask," Sakura growled.

"Toxin?"

"Right here," she opened up one of the flaps and showed it to her.

"Excellent," Meiling nodded, "Anthony?"

"Knocked out but I gave him the drop point," Sakura smirked, "When's it coming?"

"Right about now," Meiling looked up.

Red and white lights flashed through the darkness of the sky as a mechanical whirring filled the air. Strong winds buffeted the two girls as a dark shape appeared above them.

"And right on time," Sakura noted.

A rope ladder fell to the ground as Meiling picked it up and gestured to Sakura.

"You first," she handed the ladder to her as Sakura shot her a grateful smile and began climbing up the ladder.

"Hello, Ms. Kinomoto," their pilot said politely.

Meiling soon hopped on board and pulled the ladder up before turning to their pilot.

"All clear," she announced.

The pilot nodded and clicked a series of switches and buttons.

"Hang on ladies," he told them, "We're jetting off."

And the helicopter flew through the night as the two Angels on board celebrated their success.

~~~~~~

Lilia opened the door.

"Ahhh… welcome," she said opening the door.

The tall African-American woman strolled through the archway as Lilia led her to her desk. Seating down onto one of the chairs and making herself comfortable, the woman faced Lilia as she sat down onto the opposite of her mahogany desk.   

"So, Ms. Ruben…" Lilia began.

"Alicia," the woman cut her off.

"I trust your trip was good?" Lilia asked politely.

Alicia Ruben fixed her amber eyes onto Lilia's as the businesswomen gulped and hurried to explain.

"I have a job for you," she said.

Alicia laughed.

"Eliminate Zachary Yamazaki?" Alicia laughed at the shocked look that appeared on Lilia's face, "I'm well-informed."

"Umm… well… since you know…" Lilia finally managed to compose herself before staring Alicia squarely in the eyes, "Will you take the job?"

"Hmmm… take the job and annoy your boss… which is also my boss?" Alicia stared at her, "I'm a killer not a suicidal maniac."

"Oh, come on," Lilia pressed, "With your enhanced abilities, which I might add is due to my supervision over Project X-15… I'm sure it's no big problem to you."

"True," Alicia acknowledged, "And I thank you for that but what's in it for me?"

"10 mill," Lilia said coolly.

Alicia thought for a few seconds.

"Deal," she said getting up, "I'll get on it right away."

"Nice doing business with you," Lilia said standing up also.

"Thanks," Alicia tossed behind her back before walking out of the room leaving behind a triumphant Lilia.

"Zachary is dead," Lilia smirked.

Alicia never failed.

~~~~~

"So what happened?"

"I went, I saw and I knocked Anthony out," Sakura said deadpanned. 

"Nice," Tomoyo observed.

"Did he get the message?" Michael asked cutting in as Sakura wearily yanked her blue wig off.

Sitting herself down onto one of the many couches standing in Michael's safe house, Sakura nodded.

"Ten o'clock, tomorrow night," Sakura glanced at her watch, "Well, seeing it's past midnight now… 19 hours to go."

"Good," Meiling said briskly, "Get some rest."

Sakura nodded and stood up, stifling a yawn as she glanced at Michael. Getting the hint, Michael pointed down the hallway.

"First left."

"Thanks," Sakura shuffled over to the allocated door but just before she went inside, she turned to her fellow Angels and Michael, "What are you guys going to do?"

"Us?" Michael smiled grimly, "We scheme."

Sakura shrugged and walked into the bedroom as Michael faced the two remaining Angels.

"See, this is what I was thinking…"

~~~~~

Anthony tamped down his fury as he slowly got out his car, his body still sore from the thrashing that mysterious woman had given him. Luckily he had reclaimed conscious quickly and was able to get out of there before all the exits were sealed. His team wasn't as lucky and were cooling their heels in prison right now.

"Fools," he muttered as he strolled towards the warehouse.

In the shadows several of his men lurked, guns ready. Anthony checked his own gun was in its holster as he checked his watch.

"Bitch better be on time," he muttered as he strolled towards the warehouse.

Its doors were wide open, a gaping maw leading into the darkness within. Scanning the area once more he stepped through the door and into the enemy's lair.

~~~~~

Sakura waited patiently wearing the same disguise she had used the previous night. Wearing the crimson leather body suit complete with vivid blue hair and electric blue eyes, she perched on one of the rafters that ran across the length of the ceiling hidden by shadows as she studied the ground below like a wary hawk surveying her domain.

_'Guards outside,' _Tomoyo warned her through the com-link she had tucked in her ear.

"Okay," Sakura whispered giving a little nod, "He's here."

_'Good luck,' _the line went dead as Sakura returned to studying Anthony Collins as he strolled into the dark warehouse seemingly uncaring that he was walking into enemy terrain.

Quickly scanning the rest of the warehouse and sure that he was alone, she leapt from the rafters and landed gracefully in front of him. He took a step backwards but his face was calm, his eyes blazing with arrogance.

"Mr. Collins," Sakura said solicitously giving him a small mocking bow.

"Bitch," Anthony replied calmly his voice betraying none of the anger that burned in his dark eyes.

Sakura sent him a vicious grin as she threw a punch at him. Anthony ducked with amazing speed as Sakura smirked before kicking him in the gut sending him stumbling backwards.

"Tsk, tsk," she tutted as she walked calmly to him, "Language, Mr. Collins, language."

"Where is it?" the Cobra Mark leader snarled jumping to his feet, "The toxin."

"Oh, this?" Sakura asked innocently as she pulled a test tube from her body suit.

She held it up to the light as she smirked at Anthony.

"It's mine," Anthony snarled, "Give it to me before I kill you."

"Nice try," Sakura smirked, "You kill me and you'll never have the rest of the toxin. Or this one for that matter."

Calmly and slowly she dropped the test tube and watched as the glass hit the concrete and bounced once miraculously not breaking. Gently pressing the sole of her boot against the glass, she rolled the test tube across the hard concrete of the warehouse floor. Anthony watched the toxin-filled test tube slowly as Sakura rolled it backwards and forwards.

"Now shall we deal?" she asked smirking at him.

"How much?" Anthony barked.

Sakura raised her eyebrow.

"I'm a very wealthy woman, Mr. Collins," she said calmly, "Money isn't what I want."

"What the hell do you want?" he demanded.

Sakura smiled at him.

"Revenge."

~~~~~

"Damn, give that girl an Oscar," Michael murmured as he and the other two Angels listened in on Sakura's conversation with Anthony Collins.

_'It's quite simple, Mr. Collins,' _Sakura's voice came in through the speakers as Tomoyo and Meiling listened calmly, _'Two years ago, one of my attempted operations were foiled thanks to the interference of one Michael Dupree. I believe you have his precious whore in your custody, is this true?'_

_'Yeah, so what?' _Anthony snarled, _'I'm not going to give her to you.'_

_'Her for the toxin,' _Sakura said calmly, _'My first, last and only offer.'_

There was a pause as Anthony mulled over his decision.

_'Fine,' _he said finally, _'Meet me in two hours here. We'll make the exchange then.'_

_'Very well,' _Sakura answered, _'Two hours then.'_

The sound of Anthony's footsteps were clear as he walked out of the warehouse. Several minutes later, they could hear the distinct noise of a car starting up and then the screeching of tyres as it sped away.

_'He's gone,' _Sakura reported.

"We heard," Tomoyo replied.

_'Oh and Michael?'_

"Yeah?" Michael asked as Tomoyo relayed the message to her friend.

_'Sorry about calling Nikki a whore,' _and with that Sakura ended the transmission as the line went dead.

Michael smiled as Meiling sighed.

"And now the real fun begins."

~~~~~~

Sakura sighed as she stepped out of the car and strode towards the front door of Michael's safe house. The door swung open allowing welcoming warm light to spill out into the cold darkness of the night, a silhouette stood against the light as Sakura gave the figure a small wave.

"So what's the grand plan?" she asked.

Meiling shrugged.

"Your usual you-stall-we-come-in-and-kick-his-arse plan."

Sakura smiled.

"Sounds good enough to me."

Meiling stepped aside as Sakura strolled into the safe house. Tomoyo greeted her as Sakura pulled her wig off.

"So, how exactly am I going to take down the veritable army of armed thugs that Collins is sure to bring with him?" Sakura asked without preamble.

Tomoyo smiled.

"I've got something I want you toss," she said before turning around and walking away.

Sakura shot a look at Meiling who shrugged delicately. They followed their friend into another room where Michael and another man awaited them.

"This," Tomoyo said proudly, "Is our secret weapon."

Meiling and Sakura stared at what was lying on the table beside her.

"That's what I stole from the factory," Sakura said slowly, "It's the toxin Collins what. So what?"

"Actually it appears to be the same but it's not," Tomoyo began explaining, "The toxin was originally designed so that it can be 'programmed' so to speak to hunt down particular chromosomes in a human's DNA. Its original purpose was to serve as a medicine to neutralise any abnormalities in a person's DNA eliminating genetic diseases. However he (Tomoyo gestured towards the unfamiliar man standing beside Michael) has managed to manipulate the toxin so it can be used in a gas form and its effect is also different."

"What does it do now?" Meiling asked curiously.

"It now only knocks out people exposed to it," Tomoyo explained.

"So great," Sakura said disgusted, "I'll have to bring a gas mask."

"Ummm… actually this toxin in gas form only needs to have contact with your bare skin to work…" Tomoyo trailed off as Sakura and Meiling stared at her.

"So how can I stop it from knocking out me… or Nikki for that matter?" Sakura demanded.

"Actually here is the best part, you know how the original toxin was designed to hunt down particular chromosomes? Michael got his expert in this type of field to change the toxin so that is targets the Y chromosome."

There was slight pause as Sakura and Meiling blinked at her.

"Are you telling me this toxin if released will knock out any male in the surrounding area?" Sakura demanded.

Tomoyo nodded.

"For a couple hours, yeah."

Sakura smiled at her.

"Then this should be a piece of cake."

~~~~~

Anthony dragged the blindfolded and gagged girl across the rugged path leading up to the warehouse as she whimpered

"Shut up!" he snarled slapping her viciously in the face as he continued to drag her along, "Shut the hell up!"

He strolled into the warehouse followed by a platoon of armed men as Nikki let out another low whimper. He raised his hand to slap her again.

"Stop," a calm voice said from the shadows, "If you don't stop manhandling my goods this deal is over."

Anthony slowly lowered his hands as the leather-clad woman sashayed out from the shadows.

"Here she is," Anthony thrust Nikki towards her, "Her for the toxin. Hurry the hell up."

Sakura bit back her worry seeing the bruises on Nikki's skin as she reached into the concealed pockets of her jumpsuit and pulled out several test tubes. 

"Here they are," she announced holding them up.

Anthony smiled, a predatory sneer dancing across his lips.

"Actually," he said slowly, "I've changed my mind. I've decided I want to keep the girl as well as the toxin. Give the toxins to me or you're dead."

Sakura smiled at him mysteriously.

"Betrayal?"

"You bet!" Anthony snarled, "If by the count of three you don't give them to me, you're dead. One… two…"

"If you want it so much," Sakura raised one particular test tube into the air, "HERE CATCH!"

She hurled it at the ground as with a small 'plish' sound the glass shattered. Acid green smoke poured from the rupture in the glass surface as Anthony stared at the mysterious gas.

"What the hell?" he barked, "SHOO…"

The cloud of green smoke touched him and he collapsed to the ground taking Nikki down with him. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as his limbs went limps giving Nikki the opportunity to wriggle away from him.  Similarly his team of armed thugs were falling to the ground in the same state of unconsciousness. 

"Well that was easy," Sakura commented as the green smoke seemed to disappear but Sakura knew that it was still everywhere ready to knock out any male that approached this area.

She walked towards Nikki who was trying to scramble to her feet but could as her legs were bound together by lengths of tough rope.

"Hey," Sakura said softly as she gently took the blindfold off.

Nikki stared wildly up at the unfamiliar face that looked down at her as Sakura gently peeled off the duct tape that had sealed Nikki's mouth shut. Her nimble fingers made quick work of the knotted ropes that bound Nikki's hands and feet together as Nikki continued to stare at her.

"Who are you?" she gasped, "What happened? Who was that man? Why did they kidnap me? Wh…"

More questions spilled from her lips as Sakura pulled her wig off.

"You're that woman… my grandfather's colleague's daughter," Nikki whispered as she stared at her, "Why…"

Sakura ignored her questions for the time being as she spoke into her com-link.

"I have her," she said.

"Actually," a familiar sinister voice drawled from the shadows.

A pale hand reached out from the shadows and yanked Nikki's hair back painfully as Sakura slowly stood up her contact lens-covered eyes widening in shock.

"I have her."

~~~~~

_'I have her.'_

"Oh crap," Tomoyo whispered as the familiar voice came in through the speakers, "No! No! No!"

"What's wrong?" Michael demanded frowning in confusion, "Who is that woman?"

"That's Psuedo-Sakura," Meiling said grimly recognising the voice, "And that means a world of trouble."

~~~~~

Before Sakura could react Psuedo-Sakura let go of Nikki's hair and sent her flying with a snap-kick that crashed into her chin. Sakura landed heavily as Psuedo-Sakura smirked at her.

"Nice clothes," she commented, "Change of career? From goody-goody to slut?"

"Go to hell," Sakura snarled as she slowly staggered to her feet.

"That's not nice," Psuedo-Sakura commented before lunging at her.

Sakura sidestepped her right hook and caught her arm before her counterpart could pull it away. 

"You're right, that's not nice," Sakura smirked at her, "And neither is this!"

Pulling her counterpart towards her, Sakura landed vicious kicks that hit her stomach aiming right for her kidneys as Psuedo-Sakura unleashed a flurry of curses.

"BITCH!" with her other hand she backhanded Sakura.

It felt like an explosion of pain had roared through her body, Psuedo-Sakura was strong and inhumanly so. Sakura was sent flying through the air as she hit the walls of the warehouse her momentum managing to put a hole in the dull grey plaster that made up the wall.

"Owwww…" Sakura moaned as she crawled to her feet.

Before she could react, Psuedo-Sakura was upon her grabbing her by the arm and flinging her across the room. Sakura was sent crashing into the far wall this times as jagged pieces of plaster ripped into her body.

"Oh no, mommy," Psuedo-Sakura drawled strolling towards Sakura, "My dolly seems to be broken."

Sakura cried out in pain as Psuedo-Sakura kneed her in the stomach. Exerting all of her strength, Psuedo-Sakura lifted her counterpart over her head as Sakura struggled trying to break her doppelganger's iron-vice grip on her as Psuedo-Sakura laughed.

"Oh wait, I think it's still showing signs of life," and with that she hurled Sakura across the warehouse.

Sakura landed heavily skidding across the rough concrete as Psuedo-Sakura let out another peal of laughter.

"Had enough honey?" Psuedo-Sakura smirked.

"What the hell do you want?" Sakura managed to spit out as she climbed unsteadily to her feet.

"I want her," Psuedo-Sakura smirked at Nikki's direction before switching her attention back to Sakura.

"Why? What do you want with her?" Sakura demanded.

"Well, actually I don't want her. I want her dear old grandpa's diaries."

Sakura blinked at her as Psuedo-Sakura laughed.

"Oh didn't Yue tell you?" she asked innocently, "That's what's so important here. And only she knows where those diaries are."

Before Sakura could react Psuedo-Sakura launched into a flying kick. Sakura closed her eyes knowing she was too injured to dodge the blow.

=So this is how it ends= she thought =Funny, though I was always going to go off with a…=

"BANG!"

Sakura's eyes opened just in time to see Psuedo-Sakura being knocked out of the air. She flopped to the ground as blood oozed from a giant gaping hole in her side.

"What the…" Sakura looked around in confusion searching for her rescuer.

"Bitch…" Psuedo-Sakura gasped staggering to her feet, "Why you little…"

"BANG!" the gun went off against as Psuedo-Sakura's body jerked backwards.

"Back off," Nikki commanded her voice surprisingly strong.

Sakura blinked seeing Nikki holding a gun in her hands. Her eyes flicked towards the downed thugs and noticed one of them had no gun.

Nikki must have taken it off him and used it to save her.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Ow," Psuedo-Sakura climbed back to her feet, "Do you know how much that hurts? Do you honestly? Really?"  
"BANG!" 

This time Nikki aimed for her head as a bullet punched through Psuedo-Sakura's skull causing her forehead to cave in. Her emerald eyes were wide with shock and pain as thick blackish-red blood oozed from the gaping wound.

"DAMN!" Psuedo-Sakura howled somehow still managing to speak even though a bullet had just torn through her head, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!"

White light burst from the doppelganger's body as Sakura looked away unable to take the glare. When the light finally faded away, she was gone.

~~~~~

"Ow," Sakura grimaced as Tomoyo pressed the bandage firmly against her wrist binding it tightly, "Watch out."

"Psuedo-Sakura kicked your arse?" Meiling asked raising an eyebrow.

Sakura rolled her eyes before glaring at her.

"You think?" Sakura gestured to all the bruises on her body, "Where do you think I got this from?"

 The three girls fell silent as they regarded Nikki and Michael who were hugging each other tightly whispering to each other. After Psuedo-Sakura had disappeared again, Meiling and Tomoyo accompanied by several of Michael's men had rushed to the scene before transporting back to Nikki's mansion even now the whole building was ringed by Michael's guards.

"So what's going to happen to Collins?" Sakura asked grimacing as she stood up slowly.

"We called the cops," Meiling smirked.

Sakura stared at her.

"He's now in police custody and after he wakes up he's going to be charged with a whole list of 'no-no's that's he's done," Meiling explained smiling wickedly.

Sakura grinned as well as Nikki broke away from Michael.

"So who are you?" Nikki asked staring at them, "And this time I want the truth… please?"

"Umm…" Tomoyo exchanged a look with her two friends who nodded slightly, "Well… see it's like this."

And with that she began explaining the whole concept of being Angels and the whole books/Yue/Psuedo-Sakura/cryptic instructions saga. After she finished, Nikki was standing there a small frown at her face.

"Yue…" she said slowly, "That's Chinese for moon right?"

Meiling nodded.

"Actually mandarin," she corrected.

Nikki nodded.

"He doesn't by any chance look like an angel does he?" Nikki asked casually.

Tomoyo blinked in surprise.

"Actually… he does," she replied slowly, "Do you know anything?"

Nikki nodded quickly.

"Yeah," she closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again and began explaining, "When I was young my grandpa always used to tell me this story about this 'moon-angel' who spokes to him in his dreams… I can't quite remember the whole story but I know he wrote it down in his diaries somewhere."

Sakura sucked in her breath.

"So that's why Psuedo-Me wanted the diaries," she said slowly.

Nikki nodded before walking up to one of the many bookcases that lined the room's wall.

"This, I think this is it," she pulled out a battered leather-bound book.

She flipped through the pages as she walked back to them. Michael slipped his arm around her as he gazed over her shoulders studying her grandpa's diary.

"Here it is," Nikki announced as she began reading, "The moon-angel appeared against this time hovering above a lake. He spoke to me telling me about shadows and the chosen three, he told me about the mirror in the lake. The lake of balance he said, the lake of fire and tides. It is hidden there. He also said something else to me. Something peculiar…"

Nikki gave a small cry as a silver light burst from the yellow crinkled pages of the diary. She dropped it as the three Angels slowly moved into battle stances preparing to fight whatever had caused this strange glow. The silver light formed a huge beam that shot up towards the roof before splitting into tendrils that shot back into the diary. From the depths of the silvery light, a figure emerged. Two long wings appeared followed by long white hair and cool blue eyes

"Yue," Tomoyo whispered, "the moon-angel."

"Correct," Yue told her calmly as he floated above the still glowing book, "That is what Nicholas called me."

Seeing the girl's puzzled looks, Nikki beat back her fear and shock to explain.

"My grandpa," she whispered.

"Wait," Sakura spoke up remembering something, "Psuedo-Sakura said she'll get Nikki back for shooting her… is she in any danger."

"Not while I'm around," Michael muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

"No, Nikki is no longer of importance in this quest. To hurt her will be invoking my wrath," Yue smiled coolly, "Trust me she doesn't want to do that."

There was a small silent before Yue spoke up against.

"The seeds of this quest for the mirror and third book was planted years ago in the mind of a young boy whom I chose to be my messenger to the three," Yue said calmly, "I gave him the clues to the locations and directed you to find them. You have proven worthy of reclaiming these clues but it is not over yet. My challenge still roams this world but you are one step closer to fulfilling the ancient prophecy. The past filled with magic is meeting with the present. It is almost complete, they have almost met in a full circle but not yet… when the circle is complete the final battle shall begin."

Yue looked at the three Angels calmly.

"But I give this warning to you," he continued, he took a deep breath before speaking against. His voice was powerful and haunting striking something deep in the three Angels' minds.

_'Two terrible guardians will stand in their way,_

_One shall be drawn from the Wielder,_

_Drawn from the past sands of time._

_The second guardian,_

_An ancient spirit,_

_The mountains are her realm,_

_And winter is her weapon.'_

The three Angels stared at him as he gave them a final smile before disappearing, his body seemingly dissolving into silver light that was sucked back into the diary as it slammed shut.

Meiling growled in frustration.

"Not more god damn cryptic clues," she sighed.

The three Angels fell silent as Nikki spoke up. Turning to Michael, she frowned at him.

"I think you have some explaining to do."

Michael froze as the Angels sniggered.

"I think we better leave," Tomoyo said calmly as she walked out of the room as Sakura and Meiling followed closely.

"Umm… well…" Michael hedged, "It's like this…"

~~~~~

 Ahhh… more cryptic clues form Yue… but what do they mean? You'll just have to find out!

Next chapter:

Returning to L.A. with their next clue, the Angels are distracted from their plans as Lilia finds out Sakura survived her fight with Lara. With Zachary is great danger, Sakura is distracted when Lara returns to L.A. eager to finish off their fight once and for all… will Sakura triumph or be defeated again? Find out next in… _Rematch._

A/Notes: Just to warn some people, there may be another massive delay in between updates… sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! 

And also I'm planning to finish off this story in about 30 – 31 chapters…


	26. Rematch

SORRY ABOUT THE MASSIVE DELAY! SORRY, SORRY, SORRY! BUT FINALLY ANOTHER UPDATED!!! YAY!!! 

Please read and review! I WILL NOT UPDATE UNTIL I HAVE 20 NEW REVIEWS!

Disclaimer: read the previous ones.

Syaoran's Angels 

**Chapter 25: Rematch**

"Lake of balance?" Tomoyo growled in frustration, "Nothing, nothing, nothing and oh look footnotes for nothing! I've searched every site I can think of!"

"No luck here either," Sakura reported looking up from the various thick travelling guides she was looking through, "Lake of balance ain't here."

Meiling sighed.

"Not a single thing," Meiling held up one of the many historical texts she was studying, "Nothing in ancient Asia was named that."

Sakura sighed as she played with the ends of her hair. Lounging on one of the cream-coloured sofas that stood inside the Angel's headquarters, she had been looking through guidebooks trying to discover the location of the mirror following Yue's cryptic clues. At the same time kneeling behind the short coffee table in front of her was Meiling looking through various dusty tomes on the history of Asia whilst Tomoyo was several metres away sitting at her desk facing the computer as she researched on the Internet. It had been a pretty hectic day, just a few short hours ago they had landed back in L.A. after a long flight from London. After dropping off their luggage at Tomoyo's house, they had rushed back to their headquarters and immersed themselves in research.

"Maybe the balance part is symbolic…" Sakura said slowly.

"Symbolic?" Tomoyo asked looking at her a Meiling looked up.

"Yeah maybe the real clue is hidden in the other part…" she quickly studied the photocopy that had made of Nikki's grandfather's diary, "Lake of fire and tides."

"Yay," Meiling drawled sarcastically, "More cryptic clues… how fun."

Tomoyo rolled her eyes as she began typing on the keyboard several seconds later a small bleep could be heard as the computer finished its search.

"No results can be found," she read before letting out a groan of frustration.

"Perhaps fire is also symbolical of something," Sakura suggested.

"Fire…" Meiling murmured, "Fire represents…"

"Heat," Tomoyo said instantly.

"Hell?" Sakura frowned, "Lake of Hell… doesn't sound very nice…"

"Passion?" Meiling glanced at her two friends as they stared at her strangely, "What?!?"

"Seems like you've got something on your mind," Sakura teased with a wicked smile on her face.

"Perhaps a certain someone?" Tomoyo added batting her eyelids innocently…

"Shut. Up," Meiling growled dangerously.

"Oooo…' Sakura smirked, "Touched a nerve?"

Meiling glared at her as Sakura smirked well used to her friend's patented death look. Tomoyo unsuccessfully hid a snigger as she turned back to her computer.

"Fire and tide…" she whispered getting back on track, "Symbols for what?"

* * *

Zachary smiled as Chelsea opened the door to their apartment.

"It's great to be home," he announced stepping through the threshold as his wife followed him inside beaming delightedly.

"It's great to have you here," she said simply before leaning over and giving him a small kiss.

Zachary wrapped his arms around and deepened the kiss as Chelsea smiled against his lips.

"Oh, guys please," Diana drawled from the doorway.

The couple sprang about to see their two best friends leaning against either side of the doorway smirking at them.

"Sakura, you're back!" Chelsea said happily.

Sakura smiled and returned her friend's hug as she beamed at Zachary.

"Nice to see you're back to your old self," Sakura said waggling her eyebrows at him.

Zachary laughed as Diana joined them.

"So what's on the menus today?" she asked tossing them an easy smile, "We go out and enjoy Zachary's first day out of hospital or do you and Chelsea have… 'plans'?"

"Okay, mental image," Sakura glared at her, "And can I say 'Ew'?"

"I have no idea what you mean," Diana said innocently widening her eyes.

"Where were you yesterday?" Chelsea asked her curiously, "I called you but you weren't there."

Sakura remained silent for a few seconds mentally debating whether or not she should tell them the truth. Finally her virtuous side won out.

"I was in London," she replied slowly.

"London?!?" Diana looked at her strangely, "Why on earth would you be in… oh. Work?"

Sakura nodded as an uncomfortable silence descended onto the room.

"So," Zachary broke the silence by grinning at them roguishly, "So where to now."

"Movies?" Chelsea suggested.

Everybody stared at her.

"Okay, bad suggestion," she sighed, "Where do you guys want to go?"

"Lunch?" Zachary asked glancing at the clock.

"Oh my god," Chelsea groaned, "It's not even twelve yet! How can you be hungry?"

"Hey!" Zachary shot back, "Try eating nothing by hospital food for a few days and see how you feel!"

Sakura and Diana exchanged exasperated looks as Chelsea and Zachary bickered.   
"Hey guys…" Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at Zachary's chest.

To her horror, a tiny dot of red light crept up his shirt slowly moving up to his heart as Diana noticed it too, her eyes widening in shock.

"ZACHARY!" she yelled desperately.

"DOWN!" Sakura roared charging at him.

"BANG!"

Chelsea let out a scream as one of the windows shattered.

"KWISH!"

Shards of broken glass showered onto the hard wood floor as Sakura tackled Zachary to the ground. A speeding bullet too fast for the eye to see zipped through the air and shattered one of the legs of a nearby table as it ripped through the piece of furniture and punched a tiny hole in the hard wood of the floorboards.

"Get down!" Sakura yelled as Diana grabbed the stunned Chelsea and yanked her to the ground.

For a few tense seconds, they pressed their bodies against the hard wood floor waiting anxiously for a second attack.

None came.

Cautiously standing up, Sakura glanced at the shattered window and looked through the broken glass plane and myriad of apartment buildings that stood nearby. The attack could have come from any of the buildings.

With a sigh of frustration, she turned to her stunned friends.

"Everyone okay?" she asked her voice barely above a whisper as adrenaline continued to pump through her veins.

Her three friends remained silent stunned by shock as they slowly climbed to their feet. It was Chelsea who finally broke the tense silence that hung in the air.

"What happened?" she managed to stammer at last.

Sakura looked at her worriedly.

"I don't know," she admitted simply, "I just don't know."

* * *

Alicia Ruben frowned as she moved her sniper rifle away from the window. She studied the auburn-haired woman who had rescued Zachary Yamazaki carefully remembering her facial features so she can run a check on her later.

Stepping away from the window and smiling ruefully down at the two bodies lying in pools of congealing blood on the ground, she brushed her hair away from her face remembering how she had charged into the apartment building and ruthlessly murdered its owners before trying to kill Zachary.

"Damn," she said simply to the two bodies, "Missed."

Meiling opened the door to Tomoyo's house glad that she was alone. As soon as she had suggested going back to Tomoyo's house both her friends had suddenly came up with places they had to be whilst smirking at her as Meiling sighed and shook her head knowing full well what her friends were doing.

Not that she was angry with them or anything, she needed some alone time with Marcus and Lily if only to sort out why Lily was calling her 'mommy' all of a sudden. Meiling was slight unnerved for this new development in their relationship and was at lose with what to do.

She sighed, relationships wasn't an area she excelled in.

"Mommy!" a shrill voice cried.

Meiling was abruptly jarred by her thoughts as Lily bounded over to her hugging her Aunty Meiling/Mommy around the knees tightly.

"Where were you?" she asked excitedly blinking up at her with her large blue eyes, "Where did you go? Was it fun? Did you bring anything back to me? What did you do? Where's Aunty 'Kura and 'Moyo?"

Meiling laughed as Lily continued to fire questions are her not giving her a chance to reply. Picking the tiny girl up and snuggling her, Meiling asked the question that was burning in her mind.

"Where's your father?" she asked.

"Right here," Marcus replied appearing from one of the rooms.

Meiling smiled at him shyly.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he replied with a huge grin.

"How's the…" Meiling trailed off trying to find the right word, "Wound?"

Marcus nodded.

"It's healing up okay, still a bit sore though," he walked over to her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before pulling Lily into his own arms, "Had fun?"

Remembering the events of London, Meiling sighed.

"You know," she shrugged, "Same old, same old."

Marcus nodded as Lily spoke up.

"Daddy, what's for lunch?" she asked with a small frown on her face, "I'm hungry!"

Meiling laughed as Marcus sighed.

"You're always hungry," he informed her daughter as Lily beamed up at him, "Fine, we'll get you something to eat."

He looked at Meiling.

"How about you?"

In reply Meiling's stomach gave a loud rumble.

"Starving," she confirmed.

Marcus laughed and they walked into the kitchen together.

Just like a family.

* * *

Tomoyo walked down the busy streets of Los Angeles and wondered what she should do with her time. After they had given up on solving Yue's cryptic message for the moment, Meiling had suggested they go back to her house, Tomoyo and Sakura had exchanged knowing grins before coming up with places they had to be.

Sakura had gone off to visit her friends whilst Tomoyo had opted to go out for lunch, pushing past the midday crowd Tomoyo realised she wasn't that hungry at all.

Glancing into the front window of one of her favourite shops and admiring the designer clothes there were on display, Tomoyo stood amidst the bustling street not realising she was being watched.

Oblivious to her danger, the Angel turned away from the window and walked on.

"We have visual confirmation of the target," the man reported into his mobile phone.

_'Good, kill her,' _Marcus Ruflac commanded, his voice blaring down the line, _'Now.'_

The man nodded and closed the line.

"You heard the boss," the man told his team, "It's time."

And with that they attacked.

Tomoyo walked past a silver van parked alongside the street paying more attention to the shop windows than her surroundings.

She was vulnerable and unaware… the perfect target.

* * *

"BANG!"

The van door slammed open as Tomoyo whirled around startled and unsure. They burst out of the van as one, guns blazing.

A man who had been walking down the street fell to his knees screaming as a bullet tore into his chest.

Tomoyo leapt to the side hiding behind one of the parked cars lining the streets as the masked men stormed towards her, guns firing bullets tearing into the car that was shielding her.

"Who the hell…" Tomoyo muttered gasping for breath as she studied them, "What on earth…"

The men continued to advance as pedestrians standing in the streets let out screams of horror and cries of help as they backed hurriedly away from the men almost stumbling in their attempts to escape for their lives as the gunmen continued to pin Tomoyo down with gunfire.

Relentlessly they continued to fire, the car's tires exploded as bullets ripped into the rubber. Tomoyo let out a sigh of frustration as she looked around for any avenues of escape or weapons.

There were none.

"Damn it! Who are these guys!" she wailed in frustration and despair.

"AHHHH!!!" suddenly one of the men let out a scream of pain.

Tomoyo blinked in confusion as the sound of semi-automatic rifles being fired stopped as the gunmen whirled around to see what was happening.

The man who had screamed went down a bleeding hole appearing in his chest as Tomoyo peered cautiously through the car's shattered window seeing what was on the other side.

Another men crumpled to his knees blood gushing from a gaping hole in his side.

"Sniper," Tomoyo whispered in shock realising what was happening.

They were panicking now; aiming up at the roofs of the buildings firing wildly with no hope of hitting the hidden assassin as another shot went off.

It was a massacre.

Shot after shot was fired from one of the roofs with silent deadly accuracy and each time another gunmen went down.

Finally there was only one left.

"No, please," he cried speaking for the first time.

He died screaming as a bullet tore through his throat. Tomoyo slowly stood up in stunned horror scanning the roofs for the sniper who had saved her.

She stared at the crumpled bodies of the gunmen.

"What the hell?"

* * *

Eriol calmly looked away from his sniper and stood up.

"Nice try, gentlemen," he said calmly.

For a few seconds, he stood there staring longingly at the grey-haired beauty that stood in the streets below searching for him. He shook himself out of his stasis and began packing his sniper away.

"Nice try, Ruflac," he said to himself softly, "But you have to try harder than that."

* * *

"What?!?" Lilia gasped in shock, "How?"

Alicia Ruben stared at her calmly.

"Are you sure?" Lilia pressed.

The assassin merely nodded.

"Damn but how, I thought I killed her!"

Lilia mentally cursed wildly as she tried to work out what to do next. Several minutes before, Alicia had appeared at the door of her office telling her that Zachary had someone to protect him.

And that someone had turned out to be that damned redheaded Angel, Lilia thought she had gotten rid off in Santa Barbara.

"Is this going to change our arrangement?" Alicia asked.

Lilia shook her head slowly.

"No," she hissed, "Just kill him. GO!"

The assassin merely nodded before calmly getting up and walking out of her current employer's office.

"Damn how?" Lilia raged standing up and pacing behind her desk, "Lara said she had gotten rid of her…"

Suddenly she stopped, a slow grin appeared on her face. Walking back towards her desk, she punched a number into her phone.

"William," she commanded picking up the receiver and speaking into it, "Patch me through to Ms. Williams."

* * *

Tomoyo cautiously walked up to the van the gunmen had burst from. Her body tensed and ready to react at the slightest hint of a threat, she slowly made her way to the vehicle carefully stepping off the bodies of the gunmen lying bleeding and broken on the ground.

Reaching the open door of the car, Tomoyo paused for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and poking her head inside.

A wealth of surveillance cameras and other technological equipment greeted her as Tomoyo ran an expert eye across the set-up considering them carefully.

"Cameras… satellite linked… must work for wealthy people," she noted, "No sound system… must be image only… recordi…"

She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes fell onto a mobile phone lying on the ground near the door.

"Hello…" a slow smile flickered across Tomoyo's face, "This may help."

She picked the phone up and tucked it into her pocket. Quickly giving the inside of the van one last scan, she slammed the door shut.

Before the still-stunned pedestrians could recover from their shock, the Angel had already left the scene intent on her next mission.

Finding out who had tried to kill her.

* * *

Meiling flung the door open.

"We've got a problem," Tomoyo told her.

"Who is it?" Marcus called.

He appeared behind the Asian Angel.

"Tomoyo," he said happily before a bubbly five-year-old interrupted him.

"Aunty Tomoyo!" Lily squealed happily.

Even though she was worried for all their safety, Tomoyo couldn't help grinning down at the girl.

"Hey, Lily!" she beamed before turning back to the adults, "Listen we've…"

"Got a problem," Sakura said suddenly appearing beside her, "Big problem."

"What the?" Meiling looked over her friends' shoulders and was taken aback at seeing Sakura's friends getting out of a car behind them.

"That's the problem," Sakura said grimly.

* * *

"Okay let me get this straight," Meiling said slowly standing up from the couch in Tomoyo's living room, "Someone tried to whack Zachary…"

Sakura nodded as Chelsea sitting on the sofa beside her shifted uncomfortably.

"And another bunch of people tried to take you out," Meiling continued directing the comment at Tomoyo.

Tomoyo nodded.

"And I find this in the gunmen's car," Tomoyo took the mobile phone out of her pocket and placed it on the coffee table in front of her, "It may or may not help."

The Angels studied the non-descript black mobile phone for a few seconds, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

"Can you track down the last several calls?" Meiling asked.

Tomoyo nodded.

"Pretty sure I can."

They fell silent again until Diana spoke up.

"Okay not to be selfish or anything…" she trailed of, "But what about us?"

"Yeah, who would want to kill me?" Zachary wondered.

Diana and Sakura fell silent, fidgeting uncomfortably as Meiling and Tomoyo glanced at their fellow Angel.

"What?" Meiling demanded, "What is it?"

"Well… um… you see… umm…" Diana began shooting Zachary an apologetic look knowing she was going to break her friend's heart.

Zachary was devoted to his job at Spinnel Corporation and if he found out about its true nature...

Suffice to say, he would be devastated.

"He works for Spinnel," Sakura finished quietly.

Meiling and Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh…" Meiling said slowly, "Damn."

"But why would Spinnel want to take out its own employee?" Tomoyo asked, pointing out the obvious question, "After Sakura went all terrorist on us and bombed Spinnel Co…"

She trailed off realising what she was saying.

"You're the one who bombed Spinnel?" Chelsea demanded, "You're the one who hurt Zachary?!?"

"Hey! I never meant for him to be injured!" Sakura protested, "Anyway I was kinda not thinking at the time. I mean my dad was being held by the Corporation from Hell! I really didn't think about consequences, I was more interested in getting information. I'm really, really, really, really, really sorry!"

"But…" Chelsea began standing up.

"Stop it," Zachary cut her off calmly.

Everyone stared at him, watching for his reaction.

"I work for, according to you, the Corporation from Hell," Zachary continued still deadly calm, "How do you know this?"

The three Angels exchanged glances.

"Well, it's kinda like this," Tomoyo began.

She began to explain everything Spinnel Corporation had done to them starting from the initial mission that had started all of this to Rika to Hayden's attempt to kill in them Australia. She continued with Fujitaka's capture and Sakura's attack on Spinnel Corporation building, the events of Hong Kong and the spies in the Mongolian archaeological dig. She took a deep breath and concluded her speech.

"So as you can see Spinnel is dangerous and it wants us," she looked up and emphasised, "All of us… dead."

"Oh," the anger seemed to leave Chelsea as she shot Zachary a look, "Why would they want Zachary dead? Like you said, he's an employee, why would they want to kill him."

"Zachary," Tomoyo said gently directing her question at the man who had been sitting silent and pale the whole time, "How was work before you were injured?'

Zachary shrugged.

"It was the same old, same old," Zachary replied his voice barely above a whisper and coming out strangely choked, "I mean it's good, better even. I've been offered a promotion just yesterday…"

"Promotion?" Sakura blinked, "To what position."

"Junior Partner," Zachary replied, "It means I would be working with my ex-supervisor."

"Who's that?" Meiling asked.

"Lilia Faren."

The three Angels stared at him.

"Well that explains it," Sakura said grimly.

"Lilia," Meiling snorted, "Son of a…"

"What's the matter, what's going on?" Marcus asked speaking up for the first time, "Who's Lilia?"

"Yeah, what does she have to do with this?" Diana asked confused.

"Everything," Tomoyo replied, although her voice was the same as before her eyes were steely grey, "She's the one behind Rika coming after us and Hayden's murder."

"Hayden?" Zachary asked, "He's been gone for weeks but we were told he left for another company, and I just found out he's been murdered."

He sighed.

"I find it hard to believe," he frowned, "Lilia is ambitious and ruthless but she won't go as far as… as…"

"Murdering someone?" Meiling asked, "Trust me, she is. She backstabbed Hayden because he was her partner. She wanted completely power to herself, she had it for a short while and then she find out you were getting Hayden's position…"

"What we have is a motive," Tomoyo finished, "She won't rest until you're dead."

"Great," Sakura sighed, "We have Lilia, Tomoyo's mysterious gunmen and Spinnel Corporation to deal with and my doppelganger is still running around! Can life get anymore complicated?"

* * *

Lara Williams calmly watched as Lilia continued to pace around her office, ranting with each step.

"I thought you took care of her!" Lilia snapped at her, repeating that phrase for perhaps the thousandth time.

"I thought I did," Lara replied serenely.

Lilia glared at her and opened her mouth to snap at the rouge Angel but Lara cut her off as she raised her hand.

"No matter," Lara continued without batting an eyelid, "I intend to finish this…"

She sent the flustered Spinnel employee a breezy smile.

"On the bright side I can take on all three Angels…" she said brightly.

For the first time, the blonde Angel allowed her true emotions to show. Her lips curled back into an arrogant smirk as malice and cruelty lit up her crystal blue eyes.

"This," she said slowly as her smile broadened, "Should be fun."

Lilia felt a shiver down her back as Lara smirked at her, her blue eyes dancing with wicked mirth.

"Happy?" she asked arching a perfect eyebrow.

Lilia nodded curtly.

"Just get the job done."

Lara sent her one last smile before getting up.

"Then I guess I should get started."

Gracefully she turned around and sashayed out of Lilia's office, sending William a playful smirk as she passed. Her smirk alone was enough to cause the man to flush and stutter incoherently as she exited the building altogether. After the rouge Angel had left, Lilia sighed in relief before plonking herself down onto her expensive leather chair.

Even though she knew that Lara was probably the best person to take care of the Angels, she had to admit to herself she dreaded dealing with the woman.

Lara was evil.

Even more than she was.

And that scared the hell out of her.

* * *

Nivaline Sarah Thomas glanced at the dilapidated apartment building standing in front of her; once more she looked down at the piece of wrinkled paper she held in her hands.

"This is it…" she murmured as the busy Hong Kong road behind her unleashed a fresh torrent of honks and Cantonese curses.

Taking a deep breath, the ex-Angel walked up to the battered wooden door and knocked sharply.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The Elder waited for an answer as she pondered the best way to go about this. However before she could come up with a working plan, the door swung open revealing a dark-haired woman with wary teal eyes that took in her visitor.

"Yes?" the woman, which Nivaline knew was Kiyone Miller said coldly.

"Kiyone Miller?" Nivaline asked cautiously just to make sure.

To the normal person there was no change in Kiyone's body posture but Nivaline's eyes picked up the slightest bit of movement as the woman slowly shifted into a stance that would allow her to spring forwards at the slightest hint of danger.

"You may not know me but I'm Nivaline Sarah Thomas," Nivaline continued.

Kiyone blinked at the familiar name.

"I was an Angel," Nivaline added softly, "The one you were sent to replace. I was… injured."

"Oh," Kiyone stared at her, her voice a ghost of a whisper, "Oh… god."

* * *

"So what happens now?" Chelsea wanted to know.

The three Angels stared at each other.

"Syaoran," Tomoyo said suddenly.

Her friends nodded.

"Okay, we'll contact him now," Sakura decided, "He'll help us shift them to a safe house.

The three Angels stood up from their positions on the couch as Chelsea grip Zachary's hand tightly trying to reassure him.

"Okay," Tomoyo sent Sakura's friends an encouraging grin, "You're coming with us."

Meiling sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Man, is one big disaster after another!" she complained, "Don't we ever get time off."

"Save world," Sakura reminded her sending her friend a smirk knowing full well why she was complaining, "Vacation later."

Tomoyo ignored them and turned to Zachary.

"We have to go," she said gently, "Now."

Zachary nodded and stood up as well, still pale and slightly shaking as Sakura sent her friend a worried look but remained silent. Chelsea stood up as Diana followed suit. Tomoyo eyed Diana thoughtfully for a few seconds, realising something they hadn't thought of before.

"Wait," Tomoyo said softly to Diana, "I think you can stay here."

"But… Lilia…" Sakura protested.

"Lilia wants Zachary gone, she has nothing against Diana," Tomoyo reminded her friend, "I think it will be safer it she stays."

Diana was obviously reluctant to leave her friends and remained silent for a few seconds, internally debating her choices as Meiling spoke up.

"It would be easier for us to protect Zachary and Chelsea if there are less of you," she pointed out from a strategic point of view.

That clinched it. Diana nodded her assent as Sakura shot her friend a small smile.

"Thanks," she said gently knowing how hard it was to stay behind.

Diana sent a small nervous smile towards them.

"Be careful," she said softly, "All of you."

Zachary nodded his thanks before Tomoyo gently ushered him out of the door followed by his wife, Sakura and Meiling brought up the rear as Diana watched them go, a worried look marring her beautiful face.

"Don't worry," the man who had been sitting with them said.

Diana turned around and faced the handsome man, she hadn't been formally introduced to him but had heard Sakura called him Marcus a few times.

"How?" she asked faintly.

Marcus sent her a warm smile.

"They'll protect them," he reassured her with all the confidence in the world, "It's what they do."

* * *

Psuedo-Sakura sighed as she suddenly materialised on the edges of a dark serene lake.

"Not you again," she growled tapping her feet impatiently, "Hurry up already! I've got places to be, Angels to bash up."

A dot of silver light manifested itself just above the face of the lake, throwing silver light onto the water surface creating a sparkling multitude of glistening ripples in the dark water. The glowing slowly faded as a large figure emerged from the depths of the orb of light.

"My champion," Yue said simply.

"Bite me," Psuedo-Sakura growled.

A cold smile appeared on Yue's face.

"You know I created you and just as easily I can destroy you," Yue said almost conversationally.

Psuedo-Sakura sneered at him.

"But you need me to test the Angels so sorry Yue, not going to bow to your oh-so-holier-than-thou aura," Psuedo-Sakura shot back, "What's up?"

"The Angels have their next clue," Yue continued calmly.

"Duh," Psuedo-Sakura snapped, "Tell me something I don't know."

"You have to try and hinder their process," Yue told her.

"And what else is new around here?" Psuedo-Sakura arched an eyebrow as Yue stared at her calmly with his pale blue eyes.

"This time your target is not the Angels."

"Okay…" Psuedo-Sakura frowned, "Big with the huh?"

"It's these two," Yue held up his left hand as a ball of white light gathered in the air just above his palm as Psuedo-Sakura looked on the shape of the ball warped and twisted slowly changing into a large glowing rectangle. The light shifted and seethed before slowly fading revealing an image in its death.

A young man with greyish-black hair and a woman with dark red chestnut hair braided into two ponytails dominated the rectangle as Psuedo-Sakura stared at him.

"And who are the lucky couple?" she demanded.

"Zachary Yamazaki and his wife, Chelsea," Yue explained, "They're your next targets. You may kidnap them but you may not harm not physically, magically, emotionally or mentally."

"How about sexually?" Psuedo-Sakura smirked.

Yue fixed her with his piercing eyes as the doppelganger shrugged.

"You're the boss," she gave him a small salute.

Yue gestured with his right hand and white light burst from Psuedo-Sakura's body.

"See you in a while!" Psuedo-Sakura said cheerfully before disappearing.

She had a new mission to complete.

* * *

Nivaline rearranged her emerald green dress for perhaps the a thousandth time as Kiyone sat across from her staring at the other woman without saying a word.

"Umm… nice…" Nivaline looked around and studied the mould-covered slightly damp walls of the dilapidated room.

She paused searching for a polite term.

"Hole?" Kiyone asked wryly, "Dump? Don't worry. I don't live here, this is a temporary base."

"What are you doing here?" Nivaline asked fixing her with piercing hazel-green eyes.

"Triad," Kiyone said casually, "Bastards whacked this innocent kid's father. I'm here for revenge with a vengeance."

"Aren't you bloodthirsty," Nivaline shot back with a smirk.

Kiyone laughed.

"Why are you here?" she demanded.  
Nivaline sighed.

"Lara's resurfaced."

Kiyone stared at her.

"Who?"'

Nivaline stared back at her.

"You don't know?" she demanded.

Kiyone shook her head slowly.

"Don't know what?"

The ex-Angel sighed.

"You better get ready cause I'm going to tell you a little story," and with that Nivaline took a deep breath, "See… this is how Nadeshiko really died…"

* * *

_'Well, this is a problem…'_ Syaoran said slowly over the speaker box.

The three Angels exchanged looks. Their boss was usually calm and collected ready to roll with the punches, seldom have they seen him startled by a new revelation.

"Problem?" Meiling snorted, "More like a catastrophe."

Sakura caught a quick glimpse of the panic that flitted across Chelsea's face before she stomped it down and hid it with a mask of icy calm, wishing she could take her friends' pain away, Sakura glared at Meiling.

"Not helping," she hissed.

_'Transfer them to the safe house is Los Angeles,' _Syaoran commanded them, _'I'll have someone pick them up and relocate them to a safer area. Be quick about it, time is of the essence.'_

The three Angels nodded even though their boss couldn't see them.

"Okay," Sakura replied.

_'Good luck Angels,' _Syaoran said gently.

"Thanks Syaoran!" the three girls chorused before the indicator light on the speaker box went dull.

Standing up, the three Angels turned to Zachary and Chelsea.

"Come on let's go," Sakura urged them, "You never know who might appear next and try to…"

"Oh no," a familiar voice drawled, "You ain't going anywhere, bitch."

Sakura whirled around as her face drained of all colour.

"You…" she whispered, "How…"

Tomoyo, Meiling, Zachary and Chelsea stared at the woman standing at the entrance of the room in confusion. Framed in the doorway, the woman smirked at them, her sapphire eyes dancing with malice.

"Hey, this place never changes," the woman mused, "Brings back so many fond memories… not."

"Sakura," Tomoyo said calmly, "Who is this?"

"Lara Williams."

* * *

Marcus Ruflac laughed as one of his employees reported the events of this morning's assassination attempt to him.

"Oh how sweet," the Russian mob leader drawled, "The ruthless Eriol Hiragizawa protecting an Angel… tell me, do you think he's in love with one of them?"

His employee shrugged as Ruflac continued to muse.  
"I wondered how it happened?" he thought out loud, "Did she seduce him… no, no… these 'Angels' are too pure to do that… maybe Eriol is a desperate love-sick fool who'll bed the first thing that comes wearing a dress… yes, yes that's it."

Ruflac sighed.

"Guess I'll have to do this by myself," Ruflac paused, "Who should I take out first? The Angels or Eriol?"

His employee shrugged again as Ruflac thought for a few seconds.

"Maybe I should let fate decide," the mob leader reached into his pockets and pulled out a coin, "So… Angel for heads and Eriol for tails?"

Not giving his employee a chance to reply, Marcus Ruflac flipped the coin. Snagging the coin in the midair, he flipped it over and slapped it onto the back of his wrist.

"Well, well," he grinned from ear-to-ear, "Heads, Angels it is. Tell my man to get geared it, we've got some killing to do."

His employee bowed respectfully to him before turning around and preparing to leave his boss's temporary office.

"Wait," Marcus Ruflac called.

The man turned around.

"I'll tell them myself," Ruflac calmly pulled out a gun from his jacket pocket and fired it.

His employee had no time to react as the bullet tore through his head, blood sprayed onto the walls as he collapsed to the ground into a bloody heap. Ruflac smiled with icy malice as he put his gun away.

"I hate failures," he told the dead corpse before standing up from behind his desk and making his way to the door of his office.

Leaving the body behind, Ruflac went to rally his troops.

* * *

Kiyone stared at her as Nivaline finished her story.

"Where is she?" Kiyone demanded obviously furious.

"U.S.," Nivaline said calmly, "My contacts has being keeping an eye on her.

As if on cue, a cheerful ring tone filled the air as both ex-Angels jumped. Kiyone smiled as she recognised the tune.

"The theme to 'the Little Mermaid'?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

Nivaline blushed as she hastened to answer her mobile. Pulling the vibrating phone out of her pocket, she hit the call button and put it to her ear.

"Yes, it's me," she paused as she listened to something, "What?!? Are you sure?!? Absolutely? Oh damn… yeah, keep watching her. Yes! I'll be straight there!"

Nivaline hung up and instantly stood up.

"Crap," she swore loudly.

"What's wrong?" Kiyone demanded jumping up as well, "Who was that?"

"One of my contacts, she was keeping an eye on Lara," Nivaline took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell, "Lara's in L.A., she at the office."

Kiyone stared at her.

"As in the Angels office?" she asked incredulously.

"Yep."

"Damn."

There was a shocked silence before both ex-Angels leapt into action.

"We need to get to L.A.," Kiyone sighed in frustration, "NOW!"

"Come on then!" Nivaline raced for the door, "I've got a plan!"

Running as fast as they could, the Angels dashed out the doors with one intent in their minds: crushing Lara Williams.

* * *

Eriol watched calmly as Marcus Ruflac exited the opulent mansion, which he had made his headquarters.

Little did the Russian mob leader knew Eriol was tailing him, watching his every move if Ruflac even dared to try and go after Tomoyo again…

The cold-blooded assassin smiled humourlessly.

"He would have to die," he whispered to himself calmly.

Ringed by a variable army of bodyguards, Ruflac opened the door to a black limousine with tinted windows and entered it before slamming the door shut firmly. His guards quickly got into several black Jeeps and after a few more seconds, two Jeeps sped off with the limousine trailing behind it, another two Jeeps serving as a rearguard.

=Looks like Ruflac is on the move= Eriol mused before starting the engine to his car and began tailing the entourage careful to keep out of sight.

The hunter had just become the hunted.

* * *

"The one and only," Lara smirked.

The rogue Angel was wearing a thick fur coat that seemed to be made off lynx fur judging by the pattern of the fabric, Lara slowly shrugged the coat off as she began talking.

"Now imagine how amazed and incredibly furious I was at learning Nadeshiko's daughter was still alive," Lara casually tossed the coat away to the side revealing her slinky black silk shirt and pants, "Congratulations darling, you're the first person to escape from me alive."

Lara slowly shifted into a battle stance as she tossed Sakura a smirk.

"But don't think it'll happen twice," she growled.

"Get Zachary and Chelsea out of here," Sakura commanded, "I'll handle this."

"But…" Meiling began.

"GO!" Sakura cut her off.

Tomoyo and Meiling traded looks before grabbing Zachary and Chelsea's arm and dragging off through another doorway as Lara grinned at Sakura, malevolence burning in her brilliant blue eyes.

"Guess it's you and me," Lara sneered before leaping at her.

Sakura blocked her first punch and delivered a shot snap-kick to Lara's chest. The rogue Angel stumbled backwards and quickly recovered throwing a haymaker at Sakura. The blow caught her in the ribs as Sakura winced but recovered quickly spin-kicking Lara in the gut.

There was a slight truce as both of them broke off their fight and began circling each other slowly.

"So tell me honey," Lara drawled, "Is this your lucky day?"

"It is now,' Sakura snapped back.

She leapt into a flying kick that hit Lara in the face.

"Bitch!" the rogue Angel roared, "My face!"

"Correction," Sakura smirked at her, "You leg!"

She snap kicked the woman in the knee causing another howl of pain from the rogue Angel before dancing out of Lara's reach.

"You'll pay for that!" Lara yelled.

She charged forwards and before Sakura could react grabbed her in an iron-hard bear tackle, lifting the Angel clear off her feet Lara charged forwards.

"Oof!"

The wind was driven from Sakura's gut as Lara slammed her into the desk sending the speaker box flying backwards. Lifting up the battered Angel again, Lara hurled her onto the desk surface and pinning her there with one arm began punching her over and over again with the other.

"How does it feel now?" Lara roared in her face as she punched Sakura in the face.

Sakura gathered up all her strength and jerked herself to the left as Lara tried to punch her again instead her fist crashed onto the desktop. Taking advantage of the rogue Angel's pain, Sakura threw Lara off her and leapt up standing still on top of the desk as Lara hit the ground with immense force.

"See Lara things are different now," Sakura smirked, "I've learnt so new tricks."

"You'll need more than a rabbit out of a hat to beat me," Lara growled back flipping up back onto her feet.

"Oh… I think you'll love this," Sakura ripped the Clow key and chain off her neck as confusion flickered across Lara's face.

"Real nice jewellery and all," Lara faked a yawn, "But boring!"

"Key of Stars with powers burning bright! Reveal the staff and shine your light!"

Lara gasped in shock as the key glowed and lengthened as an unnatural wind swirled around the young Angel. Gold light burst from the key before fading and revealing the Star Wand.

"SHOT CARD!" the card almost seemed to magically appear in Sakura's hands as she hurled the card into the air in her front of her, "ATTACK LARA! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Bright light burst from the card as the wand made contact with its surface, Sakura smirked as a jagged ball of yellow energy burst from the card as Lara stared at in shock.

"What the…" the rogue Angel had no time to react as a huge burst of yellow energy blasted out from the Clow spirit and hit her in the chest.

Energy crackled furiously as it wrapped itself around her body throwing Lara backwards flying through the air. She crashed into the wall with enough force to do some structural damage to the wall.

Sakura performed a perfect front flip as she leapt off the desk and landed gracefully onto the polished wooden floor despite the bruises that marred her body.

"What's wrong Lara?" Sakura questioned, "Get handle little old me?"

"No."

To Sakura's amazement Lara sprang lightly onto her feet as though she had been shoved through a wall with enough force to put a hole in the plaster. Sakura's eyes widened in shock as she saw that Lara's normally blue eyes were now pitch ebony black. Even her voice had changed; it became more guttural… less human.

Even as Sakura watched the woman's golden tresses soon became darker as strands of black hair appeared.

"I think the question is do you think you can handle me!" Lara roared as she exploded forwards and punched Sakura in the gut.

It felt like getting by a truck, Sakura was clearly lifted up in the air and sent flying backwards in an almost perfect arc before hitting the ceiling with devastating force, the Star wand flying out of her hands. Gravity told hold of her body and yanked the Angel down onto the ground smashing her against the hard surface as broken plaster from the ruined ceiling above rained down on her.

Lara laughed as her voice become more and more rough.

"Didn't think so," she smirked as she sashayed over to Sakura's prone body, "Sorry honey, but time's up for you."

* * *

And with that Lara calmly grabbed Sakura's neck and began choking the life out of the American Angel.

"Who was that?" Chelsea demanded as Tomoyo navigated the busy L.A. streets.

"Lara Williams," Meiling said grimly from her position riding shotgun with Tomoyo.

Driving the Yamazakis to the safe house whilst her friend was battling the monster who had killed her mother was not an experience Meiling ever hoped to repeat. Her stress level was way up and she wished somehow she could help her friend.

Quickly turning into a quiet inner street devoid of all cars, Tomoyo glanced at her friend.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Tomoyo reassured her, "She's a good fighter and she's got the cards…"

Meiling's eyes lit up.

"That's it!" she said happily, "Cards! I'll send one of them over to hel…"

Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock as she spotted a familiar-looking figure standing in the middle of the road blocking them off.

"Or you better keep them with you," she said grimly.

Meiling followed her friend's gaze and looked out the windshield, standing in the middle of the road was…

"Psuedo-Sakura," she hissed.

The doppelganger smiled back at them.

"Hey!" she said giving them a little wave.

In response Tomoyo gunned the engine and sped up. The car shot forwards straight at the doppelganger as Meiling watched carefully knowing full well what was going to happen.

White light enveloped the doppelganger as Meiling gripped the tiny butterfly bracelet that was around her wrist tightly ready to summon the Clow sword at the slightest hint of danger.

"Boo," a familiar voice said behind her wickedly.

Meiling twisted in her seat as white light suddenly emerged from thin air right over the empty seat inside the car. The light faded as Psuedo-Sakura smirked at her from between Chelsea and Zachary.

"Oh…" Tomoyo swore loudly as she stared at the doppelganger's reflection in the rear-view mirror.

"That wasn't nice," Psuedo-Sakura noted.

Meiling lunged forwards as best as she could and punched the doppelganger in the face as Chelsea screamed trying to get as far away as possible from the freaky copy of her friend that sat next to her. Zachary elbowed Psuedo-Sakura in the side of the face as Meiling punched her again.

"Ow!" Psuedo-Sakura growled annoyed directing her question towards Zachary, "You're so lucky Yue made me promise not to hurt you or…"

To prove her point she rammed her fist through the window Zachary was sitting next to, glass shattered as Tomoyo swore again.

"Hang on!" she yelled speeding up the car as fast as it would go.

"Stop it!" Psuedo-Sakura growled annoyed as Meiling hit her again.

Meiling swung at her for another blow but Sakura's counterpart grabbed her fist and punched the Asian Angel in the face with enough force to make her vision go grey.

The car's engine roared and the car shook as the speedometer went in excess of 120km/h, suddenly with no warning at all Tomoyo hit the brakes.

The car jerked forwards as its occupants were flung forwards.

Zachary and Chelsea's head slammed into the relatively soft fabric of the front two seats' headrests but Meiling and Tomoyo were not so lucky.

Tomoyo cracked her head against the steering wheel before her seatbelt jerked her backwards slamming her back into the seat. Meiling, who had turned in her seat to attack Psuedo-Sakura was flung backwards her left shoulder slamming into the windshield creating a series of small cracks as the Asian Angel grimaced in pain before her seatbelt pulled her back into her seat.

Psuedo-Sakura learnt the hard way about the advantages of wearing seatbelts in a car, the sudden stopping of the car flung her forwards her inertia carrying her frontward with surprising speed as she cursed loudly.

"Oh dam…" she had enough time to say before she was flung straight through the windshield of car, shattered glass tearing into her body.

Her body sailed through the air and landed in a bloody heap onto the road as Meiling turned around gritting her teeth as her shoulder began bleeding.

"You okay?" she asked.

Zachary nodded, his face pale as Chelsea whimpered gently.

"Gun it," Meiling commanded.

Tomoyo nodded ignoring the throbbing headache she had as she gunned the engine. The car jerked in action shooting forwards running Psuedo-Sakura over in the process as they sped away.

Lying battered and broken on the road, Psuedo-Sakura's hand twitched ever so slightly.

"Owwww…" she moaned slowly staggered to her feet, her wounds already healing themselves.

She looked down at her ruined clothes and swore loudly.

"Okay," she growled her dark emerald eyes sparkling with rage, "Now I'm annoyed."

In a burst of white light, the doppelganger disappeared.

* * *

Deep inside the labyrinth of corridors and offices that made up Spinnel Corporation Headquarters, Mr. Noir, the mysterious and notorious boss of the corrupted company sat inside his darkened office his concentration focused solely on what thing.

Black candles threw eerie shadows onto the few patches of wall their dim light lit up. The smell of burnt herbs hung heavily in the air as a mysterious wind from an unknown source rustled the thick, heavy drapes that covered the windows.

"Dark forces," he whispered, his voice guttural and almost sounding like the growling of a savage animal, "Grant my vessel strength, endurance and invulnerability. She shall triumph whilst others fall. She shall defeat all. She shall be all mighty, all powerful."

He held up something to the large black candle that dominated his desk, a photo of a young woman with long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes… Lara Williams.

"Let her be strong and wrathful. Let her wield the darkest powers known to man," Mr. Noir continued, "Until this day ends and night reign supreme, my vessel Lara Williams…"

He held the photo up to the candle flame and watched as it burned, blue and black smoke pouring into the air. One by one, the candle flames dotting the room blew out as a strong gust of wind swept through the room.

Taking a deep breath, Mr. Noir finished the last words to his dark spell.

"… shall be invincible."

He watched as candle flame suddenly flared devouring the whole photo as thunder rumbled outside. Suddenly the candle died out plunging the room into darkness.

"So mote it be."

* * *

The door to the Angel's office burst open as an army of heavily armed thugs charged in, their combat boots pounding against the hard wooden floor.

Lara turned around as a ring of armed men surrounded her, each of their weapons trained on the rogue Angel.

"Do you mind?" Lara demanded her voice thick with rage, "I'm busy!"

"Back off," a commanding voice told her, "She's mine."

Lara turned to look at the man standing in front of her, dressed in a black suit Marcus Ruflac eyed the obviously deranged woman curiously rather than with fear. Wondering who she was, he spoke up again.

"She's mine," he repeated.

"Grab a ticket and join the queue," Lara's eyes lit up as she realised who she was speaking to, "Ahhh… Marcus Ruflac… Russian mob leader formally a KGB agent… so how is Mother Russia?"

"Doing fine," Marcus Ruflac snapped, "And who are you?"

Lara smirked at her.

"Death," she hissed.

Before anyone could react, Lara exploded forwards acting with incredible speed and reflexes a ring of bodyguards immediately surrounded Marcus Ruflac guns blazing. Lara laughed insanely as she charged through the wall of bullets not caring they were ripping into her body, she grabbed the first gunmen around the neck and with a flick of her wrist broke it.

Dumping the body on the ground, she kicked out at three others crushing their ribcages with the force of her kick.

It was a slaughter, no matter how many bullets they fired at her Lara ploughed straight them. Every blow she landed was a deathblow, Ruflac's guards dropped like flies as Lara laughed enjoying the sudden power she felt.

"I don't know how I got this power but…" Lara laughed, "I don't care! I'm feeling on top of the world baby!"

She backhanded the last bodyguard with enough force to break his neck, kicking the body away Lara sashayed over to Ruflac.

"Hey baby," she drawled, "What's hanging?"

Ruflac was pale and trembling as he stared in terror at the woman who had torn through his bodyguards without breaking a sweat.

"Hmmm…" Lara stopped right in front of him, "Not bad."

She walked around his body, studying him.

"Not bad at all," Lara purred, "Guess what honey? It's your lucky day."

Before Ruflac could react Lara leaned forwards and kissed him on the lips. Gripping his face with her two perfectly manicured hands, she pressed her body against him as black energy erupted from her skin.

Marcus Ruflac's body jerked as the energy touched his skin, wrapping itself around him like a living serpent before turning into a black mist and seeping into his skin. Lara broke the kiss and took a step back.

"You're going to be my lucky helper," Lara purred as Marcus Ruflac's eyes snapped open, his eyes as dark as hers.

"Yes," his voice raspy and sounding like the hiss of a deadly cobra, "I am yours, my liege."

Lara laughed and kissed him again. Ruflac grabbed her and pressed her body against his as they deepened their dark kiss power thrumming in the air around them. Caught up in the lust roaring through their bodies they were unaware that Sakura was slowly coming to her senses.

"Owww…" she groaned, her voice sore, "What…"

Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the corpse that lay on the ground around her, looking up she saw…

"Marcus Ruflac?" she gasped, "What…"

Her eyes widened in shock seeing Lara and him kiss, the air around them crackling with dark energy. Quickly she looked around desperately for her wand, knowing she was helpless without it. Spotting it laying amongst the rubble several metres away she raced towards it and scooped it up as she kept a wary eye on the kissing duo all the while planning her next move.

"Hey honey," Lara broke off the kiss and turned around smirking at Sakura, "She's awake."

"Not for long," Marcus Ruflac held out his hand, energy crackling between his fingers.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock as a bolt of dark energy blasted forwards. Throwing herself to the right, she barely managed to miss the air as it slammed into the wall and exploded creating a giant burning crater.

"SHIELD CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Sakura yelled as Marcus Ruflac fired another bolt of energy.

A sparkling dome of blue energy appeared around her as the dark energy slammed into it before being deflected away straight back at the dark duo. Lara laughed as she gestured with her hand, the energy disappeared as Sakura gasped in shock.

"Damn…" Sakura quickly chose another card, "MOVE! GET ME OUT OF HERE! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Before Lara and Ruflac could react, bright light consumed Sakura's body and she disappeared.

"She got away," Lara pouted turning to Ruflac.

Ruflac smirked at her.

"Not for long."

Tendrils of crackling black energy burst from his fingertips and wrapped themselves around the couple, embracing them in a sphere of black energy. A clap of thunder split the air as with a huge plume of black smoke, the two disappeared.

Emerging from his hiding spot behind door, Eriol looked around at all the dead bodies on the ground and the destruction Lara and Ruflac had caused.

"Damn," he said calmly, "We're not going to live through this."

And with that he walked away trying to come up with a new plan to stop the now all-powerful Ruflac.

There had to be a way.

* * *

"This is your plan!?!" Kiyone demanded shocked.

Nivaline nodded.

"A temple hidden in the middle of a metropolitan disguised as a run down apartment?" Kiyone demanded again, her eyes bulging, "What the hell are you doing?!?"

"Chill," Nivaline told her as an old man wearing a dark orange robe entered the dimly light room.

The scent of burning incense hung in the air sweetening the air with its fragrance as Kiyone looked around staring at the many religious symbols scattered around the room. Religious symbols of all kind was placed around the room, symbols used by Christians, Jewish, Hindus, Buddhists, Catholics, Muslims and some that Kiyone didn't even know existed were all proudly displayed with none being more important than the other.

"Harmony…" Kiyone whispered looking around in awe, "God… this is…"

"Beautiful?" Nivaline nodded looking around as well, "This is a place of beautiful where all races and religions are respected. If only the world could do the same…"

"I have made the necessary arrangements, Elder," the old man said respectfully bowing towards Nivaline, "Please come with me."

"So what has this got to do with getting to L.A.?" Kiyone asked following the man down a series of dark corridors.

"You'll see," Nivaline said serenely.

The man pushed open a wooden door as he stepped aside allowing them to enter. As the two women walked through the doorway, he came in after them closing the door behind him.

Men and women of all different races sat in a circle around the room, each of them dressed in the same dark orange as the man who had led them here. Nivaline walked into the centre of the circle as Kiyone followed suit looking at the ring of people warily.

The man who had been their guide through the 'temple' sat down onto the ground, cross-legged like all the men and women closing off the ring.

"Just keep calm," Nivaline whispered calmly.

"Why?" Kiyone asked curiously staring at her.

"Just do it."

Suddenly Kiyone was aware of the fact that the men and women had begun chanting. Their words were foreign to her but were beautiful in a way she couldn't describe, it sounded like an ancient language somehow drawing forth images of crashing waterfalls and lush emerald forest from Kiyone's mind as it became louder and louder. Suddenly the smell of burning incense floated into her nose as a bright light poured into the circle.

Startled Kiyone looked around searching for the source and was astonished to find it was from the ring of men and women. Their skin seemed to glow with white light as their dark orange robes disappeared amongst the lustre.

"What…" Kiyone's voice was abruptly cut off as with a huge flash of white light, the world around her segued and seethed.

Her vision went black as Kiyone had the strangest feeling she was falling forwards but she never hit the ground instead she stumbled through time and space falling forever and ever and ever and…

"BANG!"

Her head snapped backwards as light flooded into her eyes.

"AHHH!" she yelped in pain as she blinked trying to clear her vision.

"It's a bit disorientating at first," Nivaline said calmly, "But you get use to it."

Kiyone blinked a few more times before looking around in astonishment. They were standing in the middle of what looked like a demolished office building, bodies lay on the ground as flames danced up the length of one wall, which had a gaping black crater in it.

"Where are we?" she demanded.

"Why the City of Angels of course."

"WHAT?!?"

* * *

In the misty realms of the limbo, the Beast of Seal Kerberos was freaking out.

"OH MY GOD!!!!"

"What is it?" Nadeshiko demanded looking around in panic, "What's going on?"

"The Void card… it's powers…" Kerberos gasped as he sensed the dark energy conveying onto the mortal world.

"What about the Void card… it's Sakura okay?" Nadeshiko demanded, "Kerberos, what's wrong?"

"It's…. the power… it's being channelled," Kerberos paled as he realised what was happening, "The Void card's energy and power is being channelled into a vessel!"

"Who? Who's the vessel?"

Kerberos looked up at her in horror.

"Lara Williams."

* * *

"Holy…" Kiyone looked around, "What the hell happened here?"

"Wait," Nivaline stopped, "I told the monks to send us to the Angel's office…"

There was a small pause as the two women stared at each other realisation sinking in.

"What the hell happened?" Kiyone demanded.

Nivaline looked around.

"I don't know," she admitted.

"What? You can magically teleport us to L.A. all the way from Hong Kong but you can't figure this out?!?" Kiyone was getting really worked up, "FIGURE IT OUT!"

Nivaline rolled her eyes and ignored her as she poked around in the rubble.

"Wait…" she stopped as she looked around, "I can feel it…"

Nivaline gasped as she concentrated.

"The dark powers…" she keeled over as though she was in pain, "It's here… it's so strong…"

"Nivaline?" Kiyone asked tentatively as Nivaline gasped again.

"It was here!" she yelled suddenly, "Oh god! How? How? How?"

"Nivaline!" Kiyone grabbed the woman gently and shook her, "What's wrong?"

"The Void card," Nivaline stared at her with wide horrified eyes, "It was here… I can feel it."

"The Void card?"

* * *

Tomoyo parked in front of the safe house as she clutched her head trying to soothe her headache.

"Ow…" she moaned.

Meiling glanced worriedly at her.

"I'm fine!" Tomoyo protested, "Hurry up! Get them inside."

Meiling nodded and opened her door as Zachary and Chelsea followed suit. Meiling quickly herded the couple into building as Tomoyo slowly got out of hers.

"Ow…" she wobbled unsteadily on her feet as she staggered towards the door of the building, her vision spinning crazily.

Meiling opened the door and directed Zachary and Chelsea inside as she waited for Tomoyo to follow her. Tomoyo sent her friend a small smile of reassurance before staggering inside.

Familiar with the layout of the safe house, Tomoyo made it to the 'living room' of the building before collapsing into one of the chairs.

"Ow…" she moaned gently touching the bump on her head.

"So what happens next?" Zachary asked quietly, the first time he had spoken in a long time.

Glancing worriedly at the obviously worn out man, Meiling thought for a few seconds.

"Usually we would leave you here and Syaoran would arrange your travel plans but since Psuedo-Sakura and Lara was running around, I guess we're staying here with you."

Chelsea nodded, grateful for the extra protection. Opening her mouth to ask a question, Chelsea was cut off as a ball of white light appeared from thin air.

Meiling and Tomoyo froze as the ball of white light expanded in size before fading away revealing a familiar figure.

"Sakura?" Chelsea asked astonished.

Sakura coughed weakly and collapsed onto the floor as Meiling rushed forwards to help her onto her feet.

Obviously badly injured, Meiling directed her friend towards a chair and made her seat down.

"What happened?" Zachary asked worried, "Are you okay?"

Sakura nodded as she massaged her bruised throat.

"I'm fine," she said hoarsely, "Lara managed to hurt me but I got away…"

"Good," Tomoyo sighed, "We've lost Lara."

"I don't think so," Sakura looked up at them.

Meiling and Tomoyo stared recognising the look in Sakura's eyes: fear. It was fear that caused her eyes to darken; it was fear that caused her battered body to tremble slightly.

"What's wrong?" Meiling demanded.

"Lara… she's…" Sakura searched for the right time, "Powerful. She threw a punch and it knocked me across the room. Her eyes and hair are all black… it's like she's been possessed and when Ruflac showed up…"

"RUFLAC?!?" Tomoyo gasped, "Oh god, how many people are coming back for revenge?"

"Ruflac's bodyguards… I think were all killed… by her and they had guns with them," Sakura paused to allow them to digest this piece of information, "They were dead… their necks broken… and she and Ruflac kissed and it was like he was possessed as well. He tried to kill me with a blast of dark energy, I dodged it but it took a good chunk out of the wall."

Zachary, Chelsea, Meiling and Tomoyo stared at Sakura.

"Are you sure?" Tomoyo asked gently.

Sakura smiled wryly.

"I've got the wounds to prove it."

"Oh god," Chelsea whispered, "But how?"

"Isn't that the million dollar question?" Meiling muttered.

"How do we deal with them?" Zachary demanded, "What…"

Before he could continue, the door to the safe house swung open as everybody froze. Sakura clutched her Star wand tightly as the sound of footsteps floated to their ears.

Meiling jumped up out of her seat as she shifted into a battle stance ready to attack, the footsteps faded as someone appeared at the doorway of the living room.

The Angels eyes widened in shock.

Sakura gasped as she stared at the familiar face.

"Xiaolang?" she choked.

* * *

CLIFFHANGER!!!!!

Next chapter: 

As Xiaolang helps the Angels defeat the awesome might of Void-possessed Marcus Ruflac, Eriol meets a mysterious woman who claims that he is Clow Reed and offers her help in destroy Ruflac. At the same time, Psuedo-Sakura and Alicia Rueben go head-on-head as they try to go after Zachary at the same time. But Lara is never lurking far and when she mistakes Psuedo-Sakura for the real one, the fight of century is about to begin… find out what happens next in _Dark Things_.

A/Note:

Sorry about the massive delay but exams… (sigh). I really should be studying but instead I'm writing this but who's complaining?

Anyway, this chapter is a bit shorter than the one before but that's probably to do with the whole exam/stress thing, sorry! But I think the next chapter will be fairly long.

And for those who have been asking, another CCS character is about to appear as for Yukio/Julian and Tori/Touya… well they won't appear in this story but will appear in the sequel…

And I will repeat again, I will finish this story by in about 31 chapters, meaning that there is around 5-6 chapters left!!!!


	27. Dark Things

* * *

HERE IT IS! THE NEW INSTALLMENT OF SYAORAN'S ANGELS! AS ALWAYS PLEASE REVIEW! SINCE THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER YET, I WILL NOT UPDATE UNTIL I HAVE 30 NEW REVIEWS!!!!! 

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing but storyline and original characters are mine!!!!

**Syaoran's Angels **

**Chapter 26: Dark Things **

****

_Previously on Syaoran's Angels… _

"Dark forces, grant my vessel strength, endurance and invulnerability. She shall triumph whilst others fall. She shall defeat all. She shall be all mighty, all powerful. Let her be strong and wrathful. Let her wield the darkest powers known to man. Until this day ends and night reign supreme, my vessel Lara William shall be invincible… So mote it be."

* * *

"Lara… she's…" Sakura searched for the right term, "Powerful. She threw a punch and it knocked me across the room. Her eyes and hair are all black… it's like she's been possessed and when Ruflac showed up…"

* * *

"RUFLAC?!?" Tomoyo gasped, "Oh god, how many people are coming back for revenge?"

"Ruflac's bodyguards… I think were all killed… by her and they had guns with them," Sakura paused to allow them to digest this piece of information, "They were dead… their necks broken… and she and Ruflac kissed and it was like he was possessed as well. He tried to kill me with a blast of dark energy, I dodged it but it took a good chunk out of the wall."

Zachary, Chelsea, Meiling and Tomoyo stared at Sakura.

"Are you sure?" Tomoyo asked gently.

Sakura smiled wryly.

"I've got the wounds to prove it."

"Oh god," Chelsea whispered, "But how?"

"Isn't that the million dollar question?" Meiling muttered.

"How do we deal with them?" Zachary demanded, "What…"

Before he could continue, the door to the safe house swung open as everybody froze. Sakura clutched her Star wand tightly as the sound of footsteps floated to their ears.

Meiling jumped up out of her seat as she shifted into a battle stance ready to attack, the footsteps faded as someone appeared at the doorway of the living room.

The Angels eyes widened in shock.

Sakura gasped as she stared at the familiar face.

"Xiaolang?" she choked.

* * *

"Void card?" Kiyone stared at Nivaline in confusion, "Okay… huh?"

"The Void card," Nivaline looked around, her hazel eyes cautious and worried, "The most powerful magical being ever created and the most deadliest as well."

"Okay…" Kiyone was still lost, "Void card bad huh?"

Nivaline nodded.

"A world of trouble," she commented before smiling wryly, "If it hasn't destroyed the earth in the meantime."

"You have a weird sense of humour," Kiyone informed her.

Nivaline laughed before she remembered the great danger they were in and sobered up instantly.

"So what now?" Kiyone asked surveying the immense structural damage.

"Well… the Angels are gone…" Nivaline began.

"And they're obviously in danger…" Kiyone paused, "They'll going into hiding…"

The two ex-Angels stared at each other.

"The safe house!"

They both rushed for the door, which was wide open having obviously been battered several times judging by the deep dent in the wood.

"Wait!" Kiyone stopped running as Nivaline came to a screeching halt beside her.

"What?" she demanded annoyed.

"Car!" Kiyone stared at Nivaline, "We need a car! The safe house is on the outskirts of L.A., there is no way in hell I'm walking or running there! We'll make it there by night probably at that rate."

Nivaline paused as she realised Kiyone was right.

"Damn," she thought for a few seconds, "Taxi?"

Kiyone was also deep in thought but a wicked smile appeared on her face as she glanced past Nivaline's shoulders and noticed the row of the parked cars that stood beside the street curbs outside.

"I've got a plan."

Nivaline was slightly uncomfortable at the downright predatory grin as Kiyone's face. She turned around as she followed the woman's line of view until she saw what Kiyone was smiling about.

She gulped.

"Oh man," she groaned as she followed Kiyone.

"Oh don't be a coward," Kiyone grinned strolling up to an expensive-looking sports car.

Nivaline sighed as Kiyone took off the jacket she was wearing and wrapped it around her hand. Quickly glancing down the street and satisfied that not too many people were around, she cocked back her fist and punched the glass.

"KWISH!"

It shattered raining glass chips down onto the upholstery inside as the alarm went off, blaring loudly. Kiyone shoved her hand inside and unlocked the door, throwing the door open she reached inside and punched the area just beneath the steering wheel, a plastic hatch popped open revealing a massive tangle of brightly coloured wires. Obviously an expert, Kiyone picked two out and snapped them in half. Nivaline watched the startled pedestrians nervously as Kiyone touched the exposed ends to each other and to Nivaline's amazement the car alarm stopped and the engine suddenly roared into life.

Brushing glass off the driver's seat, Kiyone turned to Nivaline.

"What're you waiting for?" she asked wickedly, "Jump in!"

Nivaline sighed and walked around the car. Opening the door she jumped into the front seat, Kiyone slid into driver's seat gingerly knowing glass chips were still embedded into the fabric.

"Let's roll," Kiyone smirked as Nivaline nodded.

Kiyone took off the brakes and they were off.

* * *

"Xiaolang?" Sakura croaked.

Tomoyo and Meiling froze recognising the man who had helped them in Hong Kong, Xiaolang blinked at them obviously taken aback.

"Wha… why…" he stuttered.

He took a deep breath.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded sounding strangely angry.

"Hey!" Meiling bristled not liking his tone, "Why are you here?"

That seemed to calm Xiaolang down at bit.

"Syaoran sent me here to pick up Chelsea and Zachary," Xiaolang noticed the couple and smiled at them charmingly, "I believe that's you."

Chelsea sent back a small smile as Zachary merely nodded.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a gentler tone turning back to the Angels.

"Don't ask," Sakura muttered.

She winced as she tried to move but her battered muscles screamed in protest.

"Are you okay?" Xiaolang asked immediately worried, "What happened?"

"Lara," Meiling muttered grimly.

"Lara?!?" Xiaolang exclaimed shocked, "As in rogue Angel Lara?"

"Yeah," Tomoyo replied dryly, "That would be her."

"Why is she here?" Xiaolang asked trying to process everything they were telling him.

"She wants revenge," Sakura said weakly from her position on the couch, "And she's got some dark mojo a-brewing to pull it off."

"Dark mojo?" Xiaolang asked confused.

"Super strength, energy bolt and the ability to mojo someone else," Sakura sighed, "As if normal run-of-the-mill Lara wasn't bad enough."

"Mojo?" Meiling asked, even she didn't understand Sakura-talk all the time.

"Magic," Sakura added.

"Why am I not surprised?" Chelsea asked rolling her eyes, "It's always fun-time for you guys isn't it?"

"Yeah if fun-time was getting punched in the gut and getting strangled," Sakura snapped, seeing the hurt on her friend's face she softened, "Sorry."

"So what is exactly going on?" Xiaolang asked slightly confused.

"Short version?" Tomoyo asked wryly.

Xiaolang nodded.

"Ruflac's after us, Lara's after us, Spinnel Corporation is under us and Zachary over there," Tomoyo pointed at Zachary who was sitting on the couch, "Psuedo-Sakura's after us…"

"Wait," Meiling frowned cutting in, "Remember what Psuedo-Sakura said?"

Tomoyo blinked at her as she thought back to Psuedo-Sakura's words inside the car.

"Yue made her promise she won't hurt Zachary…" she said slowly.

"So?" Sakura demanded, "Yue only wants to challenge us."

"Unless…" Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock, "He's testing us!"

"Yue?" Xiaolang blinked, "As in the moon angel?"

"Yeah," Sakura frowned at him, "How do you know?"

A faint blush appeared on Xiaolang's handsome first as he fumbled for an answer.

"Well umm…" Xiaolang paused, "Let's just say I have 'powers'."

"Oh," Meiling blinked realising the full extent of his comment, "Ohhh…"

"Wait!" Chelsea cut in shooting her almost catatonic husband a worried look, "Who's testing you and what's it got to do with Zachary?"

Tomoyo was silent for a few seconds as she gathered her thoughts.

"I think… I believe that this is part of Yue's challenge seeing if we are staying focus on our goal retrieving the mirror and the third book," Tomoyo held up her hands to cut off Chelsea's question about the mirror and the book, "He's sent Psuedo-Sakura after you guys to test our focus… you know to test our resolve…"

There was a small silence following Tomoyo's theory. Sakura broke it by jumping up, dropping her Star wand to the ground in the process, a scowl on her bruised face.

"That son of a…" she snarled, "I'm going to kill him!"

"Chill Saku," Meiling cut in calmly, "We need to deal with Lara, Ruflac and Psuedo-Sakura first. And on top of that we need to deal with Lilia and her nagging habit of gunning for Zachary. Then we'll plan how to deliver a very slow and torturous death to Yue."

"So, we need magic," Tomoyo said slowly already strategising a plan.

"Plenty of it," Sakura added, "I hit her with lightning bolts but she not only withstood it but got up and hammered me across the room with one punch."

"And Ruflac as well," Meiling sighed, "And life just keeps on getting more complicated…"

"I think I can help you," Xiaolang suggested cutting into the trio's planning session, "I've had experienced in this type of thing."

"What about us?" Chelsea asked breaking in, "Not being selfish or anything but what are you gong to do with us."

"I don't know," Meiling sighed in frustration, "Maybe call Syaoran again?"

"Yeah…" Tomoyo began, agreeing with her friend.

"WAIT!"

Everybody jumped.

"What?" Sakura turned to Xiaolang, "What's wrong?"

Secretly, Xiaolang a.k.a. Syaoran was desperately trying to come up with a plan not to get them to call him. If his mobile phone went off here… he gulped not wanting to think what the Angels' reactions would be.

"Syaoran is unreachable right now," Xiaolang explained trying to calm his pounding heart down, "He told me that after he instructed me to come here and pick up Chelsea and Zachary."

He was silently praying to God as the Angels fell silent. Seconds seemed to turn into centuries as he waited for their answer.

"Okay, so Syaoran's out," Tomoyo finally said.

He almost collapsed with relief.

"What are we dealing with here?" Chelsea asked, "Excuse me if that sounds dumb but I've got no knowledge about magic."

"Chelsea, you know about magic as much as we do," Sakura reassured her friend.

Okay can you describe to me what Lara looked like?" Xiaolang asked gently.

Sakura grimaced as she sat back down.

"Are you okay?" Xiaolang asked concerned.

"Fine," Sakura said with a brave smile, "Okay… her hair was turning black… her eyes were completely black there no irises just black and when she kissed Ruflac this black energy leapt between the two of them and Marcus Ruflac's eyes turned completely black as well. And then he hurled this bolt of black en…"

Sakura gasped realising where she had seen the same type of attack before.

"Sakura?" Xiaolang asked gently walking up to her and gently touching her arm.

The American Angel was still gasping with disbelief as she stared straight ahead, her eyes unseeing.

"Oh damn," she said suddenly, her voice a ghost of a whisper.

Xiaolang knelt down so his amber eyes were level with hers as he continued to gently grip her arm trying to bring her back to reality.

"Sakura?" he asked worry evident in his voice, "Sakura?"

Finally Sakura's eyes slipped down to look at his.

"The Void card," she murmured, "It's the Void card."

"WHAT?!?"

* * *

Draping her body over the soft leather couch standing in the marble mansion that was Ruflac's headquarters, Lara sighed dramatically as she played seductively with the ends of her long blonde hair.

"This is very annoying," Lara commented pouting to Ruflac, "Those little Angels are gone and we don't know where they are!"

Ruflac laughed, the power coursing through his veins and controlling his mind turning his laughter in one of malice and pure undulated evil.

"That shouldn't be a problem," he informed the possess rogue Angel.

He held out his hands as dark energy crackled in between in this fingertips.

"Find them," he commanded, "Find them and come back to me!"

With his last word, he flung his arms forwards and the energy flew out his fingertips congealing into a solid orb of crackling power as Ruflac smirked. With a loud bang and gush of black smoke, the ball of energy disappeared off to do its creator's bidding.

"Now, now," Ruflac turned back to Lara and smiled at her roguishly, "We just have to wait… what can we do in the mean time?"

Lara laughed as the Void's power running through her body controlled her every reaction and her every thought.

"I don't know," Lara stood up and tossed Ruflac an easy smirk, "But I'm going to the bedroom."

And with that she sashayed off as Ruflac stared after her. An evil smile flashed across his face.

"Then I guess I'm joining you then," he muttered to himself before following Lara into the bedroom.

* * *

Eriol sighed as he entered the musky, incense-filled air of the strange little shop located in the less reputed areas of Los Angeles. His contact had directed him here after Eriol had explained he needed someone who knew about the 'supernatural' (not that he personally believed in it or anything…)

"Welcome," a tall woman with long tresses of flaming red hair seemed to emerge from the shadows of the shop.

As skilled as he was at detecting the presence of the other people, Eriol was still slightly taken aback at the sudden appearance of this strange woman. She sent Eriol a mysterious grin.

"I know who you are," she said calmly, "I know what you want. But the questions are you ready to know everything."

She cocked her head to the side as she studied Eriol as the assassin stared back at her, undaunted by her dramatic words.

"Ahhh… a brave one," the woman chuckled, "But you have to be brave… or very stupid to be a hired killer."

That caused Eriol to start slightly as the woman smiled at him mysteriously.

"I see many things," she said in the way of explanation.

"Right…" Eriol muttered to himself before speaking up, "I'm looking for help to fight…"

The woman cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"I can tell you right now what you seek cannot be find here," she paused as she cocked her head to the side thoughtfully, "There is few things in this world, which could defeat what you hope to triumph over."

"What the hell am I dealing with?" Eriol snapped out of patience with this mysterious woman, "What the hell am I suppose to do?"

"Patience," the woman smiled at him, her eyes sparkling, "You're the half, you'll find a way."

"Half?!?" Eriol spluttered, "Half of what?"

The woman was silent for a few seconds as Eriol waited for an answer, tapping his foot impatiently.

"By the way I'm Mizuki Kaho," the woman introduced herself suddenly.

"Eriol," Eriol muttered back between gritted teeth, his raging temper threatening to break out at any second.

"Come with me, Eriol," Kaho commanded softly, "I've got something to show you."

With that she turned around and walked through a curtain of earthy-coloured beads that hung above an archway that led deeper into the shop. With a sigh of frustration, Eriol followed after her, hoping against hoping that this mysterious Kaho woman would have something, which could aid him.

* * *

"WHAT?!?" Xiaolang was freaking out as Sakura remained silent, the memory of the devastation the Void card had caused in Anyang burning in her mind.

"Void card…" Tomoyo trailed off remembering what Sakura had told them about the mysterious magical being.

Meiling felt shivers going down her spine.

"How do we defeat this thing?" Tomoyo demanded directing her question at Xiaolang.

The dark-haired man shrugged helplessly.

"Oh god…" Meiling moaned, "We're screwed."

"Thanks for the optimism," Tomoyo muttered dryly noticing the pale look on Chelsea's face.

"That's got to be a way!" Sakura suddenly yelled jumping up, "Clow Reed beat the card and we're the chosen three, we're supposed to beat this thing!"

"But Clow Reed had years of training behind him and all the cards," Xiaolang pointed out.

That seemed to burst Sakura's bubble as she instantly deflated, fear flashed across her face before she ruthlessly stomped it down trying to focus on the challenge at hand.

"The Void card is free…" Tomoyo mused, "But how?"

"It's quite probable it's not free," Xiaolang said thinking aloud, almost talking to himself, "The fourth book is designed…"

"You know about the fourth book?" Sakura frowned.

Xiaolang nodded.

"I've been studying magic since I was born," he informed her, "I know quite a bit about the books…"

Sakura nodded.

"Perhaps the power of the Void card was… tapped?" Xiaolang frowned thoughtfully as he thought his theory through.

"How?" Tomoyo asked curious.

Xiaolang began pacing across the room as the Angels and Chelsea watched him anxiously, Zachary remained silent on the couch still frozen in shock by the many revelations that Sakura had revealed to him that day.

"It would take phenomenal power and an in-depth knowledge of the dark arts," Xiaolang explained, "But it was be possible to harness a fraction of the Void card's power and channel it to a vessel… Lara. But this transfer of energy is only temporary, maintaining the link between the card and the vessel would slowly wear the magic-caster's power out…"

"So it's temporary?" Chelsea asked hope shining in her eyes.

Xiaolang nodded as a collective sigh of relief went around the room.

"So we have two options," Meiling looked at her fellow Angels carefully, "We fight Lara or we run and hide hoping that the spell would eventually end."

"If we hide than Lara and Ruflac might get out of control," Sakura pointed out wisely, "There's no telling how much damage or death they could cause if they really wanted to come after us."

"We fight then," Tomoyo said grimly.

Before anyone could comment on their new plan, the sound of a car pulling up outside broke through the silence as the three Angels and Xiaolang froze.

They were even more shocked to hear the lock on front door spring open. With an ominous creek, the door opened as the sound of footsteps echoed through the now silent room.

The sound of two voices talking could be heard now, Tomoyo frowned realising they were both feminine voices. Who could they be?

"I can't believe the key still works!" one exclaimed.

"Man, they've really got to change the locks," the other added.

Xiaolang reacted instantly as they appeared in the doorway leading into the room they were in.

"FIRE, COME FORTH!" he bellowed flinging his hands out forwards.

Before anybody could react, a ball of flames burst from Xiaolang's outstretched hand. The Angels and Chelsea gasped in shock as even Zachary blinked in surprise. The ball of flame shot across the room at the two figures standing in the doorway with deadly speed as it arrowed towards them intent on burning them to ashes.

"SHUI!" one of the women cried in Chinese.

To everyone's surprise including Xiaolang, a gush of freezing water shot forwards and slapped into the ball of fire. The flames were instantly doused out by the gushing water. Xiaolang ducked as the water shot past overhead and slammed into the wall spraying water everywhere.

"Kiyone!" Sakura gasped in shock recognising one of the women.

"Nivaline!" Tomoyo blinked in surprise as she realised the ex-Angel was the one who had summoned the wave of water.

"What the?" Chelsea gasped staring at the newcomers, "Who are they?"

Zachary finally managed to break out of his catatonic state enough to stare at the two women: Kiyone had an unpleasant scowl on his face as Nivaline sighed in relief.

"What the hell?" Kiyone demanded directing her question as everyone inside the room.

"Magic," Nivaline explained calmly, she glanced at Xiaolang, "Nice but you really should combine a bit more magic in it so it's not stopped by water as easily."

Xiaolang nodded as he studied the women carefully.

"You're Nivaline Sarah Thomas…" he said slowly.

Nivaline smiled at her as Xiaolang's eyes flicked over to Kiyone.

"And you're Kiyone Miller," Xiaolang added.

"The one and only," Kiyone grinned.

"What are you doing here?" Meiling demanded.

Kiyone sighed.

"Because Lara's here…"

"You know the truth now?" Sakura asked blinking in surprise.

"Yeah, Nivaline told me."

"Good, so you know my dad's innocent and you won't try to kill him," Sakura scowled at the ex-Angel as Kiyone had the decency to blush.

Nivaline turned to Kiyone in surprise.

"You tried to kill Fujitaka?" she asked incredulously.

"I kept him prisoner," Kiyone protested defensively, "I didn't beat him up or anything… I was going to…"

Sakura glared at Kiyone as she turned to Nivaline.

"So you know Lara's back," she said softly.

"And the Void card's around," Nivaline sighed, "What is going on?"

"Long story," Meiling sighed exasperatedly, "Uber-long."

"We think someone is tapping into the power of the Void card and using Lara as a vessel," Tomoyo explained.

Nivaline frowned thoughtfully as Kiyone frowned in confusion, not understanding all the magical terms being thrown around.

"What's going on?" she demanded, a scowl on her face, "Cause I'm lost and I want answers… Now."

Before anybody could answer her, the window to the room shattered spraying everywhere with jagged pieces of glass.

"What the hell?" Kiyone yelled, knowing full well that the windows in this safe house were all bullet-proof nothing could penetrate it except for… the thing that was floating into the room.

Her eyes widened in shock as she gasped.

A ball of crackling black energy glided into the room, black sparks bursting from its surface as everyone stared at it in shock.

Xiaolang's eyes widened as he realised what it was.

"Don't let it get away!" he cried throwing his arm forwards, "WIND!"

A roaring vortex of wind seemed to manifest itself from thin air as everyone gasped, the mini-tornado leapt forwards and surrounded the orb of black energy in its gusty grip as Nivaline shook off her shook to fire off her own attack.

"XUE!" she cried summoning her powers.

A gusty breeze of freezing air swept into the room bringing chips if icy snow with it. It swirled around the trapped orb of black energy forming a solid barrier around the tornado and energy ball, trapping it in its icy hold. For a few tense seconds, the black energy ball struggled against its ice and wind prison before it unleashed a giant blast of energy. The ice shattered as the energy tore the tornado apart, it hung in the air glowing with fierce energy as Xiaolang and Nivaline gasped in shock.

Sakura scooped her Star wand off the ground and leapt up from her seat on the couch as she summoned forth a Clow card.

"SHIELD CARD! BIND THE ENERGY BALL! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

She whacked the card with all her might as a large ball of blue energy formed around the dark orb that had invaded the room. Black and blue energy fought for dominance as Sakura grunted feeling the black orb pulling at her strength.

She gasped in shock and screamed in pain as the shield of blue energy she had placed around the dark orb shattered. She collapsed to the ground as the orb of dark energy disappeared with a loud bang.

"What the hell was that?" Meiling demanded.

"A homing spell," Xiaolang explained grimly, "Lara must have sent it after us. She knows where we are…"

Nivaline nodded.

"We need to get out of here," she commanded, "Now."

* * *

Psuedo-Sakura concentrated throwing her senses forwards in an ever-growing ripple touching each and every mind that appeared before her.

=No. No. No. No. No…. Yes!=

Psuedo-Sakura's eyes snapped open as she focused in with her power trying to sense where her prey was.

"Found them!" she hissed, her dark green eyes sparkling with malice.

Light surrounded her body and she disappeared eager to continue her hunt.

* * *

Ruflac smiled evilly as the orb of black energy he had sent out a while ago appeared in front of him with a spectacular show of crackling energy and thick black smoke. Carefully sitting himself up in bed and careful not to disturb Lara who was sleeping beside him, he gestured at the orb.

"Show me," he commanded.

The ball warped and twisted until it formed a large rectangle in front of him; slowly the dark energy diminished showing him an image in its crackling depth. Ruflac cocked his head to the side as he studied the image of the building in front of him.

"Where is it?" he asked aloud.

The image of the building faded as a second image showing a detailed map of Los Angeles, a pinpoint of light appeared on the map flashing as Ruflac laughed.

"My liege," he whispered gently shaking the naked body beside him.

Lara yawned and stretched as she glanced around, her blue eyes alert and dancing with mirth.

"What's up?" she asked grinning coyly as she wrapped her arms around Ruflac's neck.

Ruflac nuzzled her neck in reply before breaking away slightly.

"I've found them."

"Good," Lara laughed, "Guess it's off to work we go!"

Ruflac smiled wickedly as Lara stretched and leapt off the bed with feline grace. Grabbing her black silk shirt off the ground she pulled it on before hunting around for the rest of her clothes. Behind her Ruflac slipped out of the bed and pulled on his own shirt before gesturing at the ball of black energy.

"Dissipate," he commanded.

With a loud bang the black orb exploded into tendrils of crackling energy that arched through the air straight at him. Ruflac grunted softly as the energy slammed into his chest but it soon disappeared, absorbed back into his body.

When he turned around, he find to his disappointment that Lara was now fully dressed.

"Let's go," she grinned mischievously.

Ruflac smirked back at her as both of them closed their eyes. A wild gust of wind swept through the room as dark energy devoured their bodies hiding them behind a veil of crackling darkness. With a loud bang and a flash of black light they disappeared.

Destination: The Angels.

* * *

Chelsea and Zachary piled into Tomoyo's now completely repair car (thanks to Sakura's Star key) as Nivaline and Xiaolang watched their surroundings carefully, their magical senses on high alert.

"So what's the plan?" Sakura asked.

"We get Chelsea and Zachary out of here," Tomoyo informed her, "We need to get them away from Psuedo-Sakura…"

"Wait," Sakura cut in, "It doesn't matter if where we send them, Psuedo-Sakura would just find them and teleport over to them. We need to somehow stop Psuedo-Sakura from finding them through magical means."

Xiaolang heard her comment and walked over to them.

"Perhaps I could be of service," he said with an easy grin.

"You can stop her?" Sakura asked staring at him.

"No, but I can throw her off the trail," Xiaolang held up his hand and muttered something under his breath.

Chelsea and Zachary both jumped with fright as blue energy coursed from Xiaolang's hand and settled over them bathing them in gentle blue light. Sakura and Tomoyo stared at the energy and Tomoyo was sure she could see faint symbols pulsing amidst the azure light but before she could make sense of them, the light faded.

"What was that?" Chelsea asked slowly staring at Xiaolang.

"A veil spell, it would hide you two from Psuedo-Sakura's or any other magical being's senses and plus," Xiaolang held up his other hand as a sparkling ball of blue energy appeared in it, floating several inches above his outstretched palm, "This is a dummy so to speak, I replicated your essence and your basic brain patterns so if Psuedo-Sakura tries to search for you she'll zero in on this thing."

"Okay…" Sakura, Tomoyo, Chelsea and Zachary blinked at each other as they tried to understand the magnitude of what Xiaolang had done.

"Come on, people!" Kiyone shouted breaking into their thoughts, "Time's a wasting! Let's get the hell out of here!"

Meiling and Kiyone, with their almost identical personalities had become instant friends and allies, and both of them were now standing in front of them, an almost identical scowl on their faces.

"Creepy," Sakura noted feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

Tomoyo nodded.

Sakura opened the other door to the car and tried to slip on but winced as the cuts and bruises on her body unleashed a sudden throb of pain, trying to fight it back Sakura was forced to let out a low whimper.

"Are you okay?" Xiaolang was instantly at her side, his amber eyes dark with worry.

"Fine," Sakura murmured in reply, pasting a smile on her face.

Xiaolang cocked his eyebrow at her, not believing a word she said. Reaching out with his hands, he gently touched her bruises arm and noticed her wince.

"You're injured," he noted softly.

"Duh," Sakura shot back.

Before Sakura could pull her arm away, Xiaolang closed his eyes and began chanting under his breath. Green light spilled from his hand and fell onto her skin, Sakura watched in amazement as the bruises on her arm faded, cuts began closing as she felt the other wounds of her body fix themselves and disappeared altogether. Energy coursed through her veins driving away the fatigue that had been gnawing away at her strength. When Xiaolang finally opened his eyes, Sakura felt rejuvenated and renewed as though she just had a decent night's sleep.

"Wow," she whispered awed, "Thanks."

Xiaolang grinned at her as he opened his mouth to say something but he was abruptly cut off by an eerily familiar voice behind him.

"Oh ain't this sweet?" the voice drawled, "Makes the heart bleed, it does."

Xiaolang whirled around only to find Psuedo-Sakura smirking at him.

"Hey!" she gave him a small wave, "Funny finding you here. You know I thought the Angels weren't supposed to know who their bos…"

"FIRE, COME FORTH!" Xiaolang yelled cutting off Psuedo-Sakura before she could expose his identity to the Angels.

A wave of fire shoved the doppelganger off her feet as Sakura jumped up, her hand instantly flying up on her Star key.

Meiling also reacted instantly grabbing her butterfly bracelet that hung around her wrist.

"Key of stars with powers burning bright!" Sakura chanted her Star key glowing.

"Blade of Clow, power of magic, power of light," Meiling began starting up her own incantation.

"Reveal the staff and shine your light! RELEASE!"

"Surrender the sword, the force ignite! RELEASE!"

Red and gold light flashed through the area as Sakura and Meiling pointed their respective magical weapons on the doppelganger.

"FIERY! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Meiling bellowed.

A huge burst of flaming white fire jetted forwards slamming into Psuedo-Sakura as Sakura summoned her own card.

"SHOT CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Psuedo-Sakura was hammered with a barraged of energy darts as Sakura watched grimly knowing that Psuedo-Sakura was far from finished.

Nivaline and Kiyone gasped in shock as despite the hammering she had received from the Meiling and Sakura's magical attacks Psuedo-Sakura nimbly flipped herself back to onto her feet before grinning at them mischievously.

"Ow," she smirked.

Sakura hefted up her wand again and was preparing to summon another card but abruptly stopped herself as a crackling ball of black energy emerged from seemingly thin air several metres in front of her. As she watched, the energy expanded itself growing and twisting its shape until it exploded with a huge bang. Amongst the black smoke, two figures emerged.

"Oh god," she gasped.

"Hey," Lara smirked, "Looks like the party started without us."

Ruflac smiled at them evilly.

"Then I guess we going have to gate-crash it."

"Damn," Meiling sighed.

Everybody tensed as Lara and Ruflac attacked. Sakura gasped as a blast of black energy shot out from Lara's hand aiming straight for Tomoyo and the car with Zachary and Chelsea still in it.

"NO!" she cried desperately, jumping in the way of the energy bolt.

"SAKURA!" Xiaolang yelled.

The energy whipped itself around Sakura before exploding with a mighty blast. Sakura's body was flung backwards with immense force before crashing to the ground in a crumpled, bleeding heap. Everybody stared at her unmoving body, horrified at her stillness and what it implied. A few tense seconds passed before she groaned softly and slowly moved, her clothes torn and revealing bruises and cut skin.

"TOMOYO!" Meiling yelled hoping that Sakura was fine but knowing that the fight was just beginning, "GET THEM OUT OF HERE!'

Torn between her desire to help her friend and the knowledge that she needed to get Chelsea and Zachary away from this, Tomoyo hesitated frozen with indecision.

"GO!" Meiling roared.

Nodding to her friend and hoping that they would be fine without her, Tomoyo leapt into the driver's seat and threw the car into drive as she turned to the Yamazakis.

"Hold on!" she yelled flooring the gas.

The car shot off down the road as Meiling let out a sigh of relief.

They were safe for now…

But the battle was far from over. With a sigh of frustration Meiling whirled around and entered the fray.

"WOOD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

* * *

"Well?" Eriol demanded.

Kaho merely smiled at him as she took a sip from the steaming cup she was holding. Seated around a table in the back of the little shop Kaho obviously owned, Eriol ignored the cup of tea the woman had given him as he glared at her his temper ready to erupt.

"I've get you waiting long enough," Kaho admitted tossing him a small smirk.

"Damn right!" Eriol growled at the end of his patience.

"What you are dealing with it's the darkest form of magic ever created in all of mankind's long history," Kaho said softly, her eyes becoming unfocused as she stared at something invisible off in the distance, "It's power is almost unparalleled. But luckily for you, you're not dealing with it directly. You're dealing with only a fraction of its power."

"Great… lady? Stop speaking in mystical riddle."

Kaho sighed.

"You're dealing with the big bad with enough power to reduce Los Angeles into a giant hulking smoking crater but lucky for you, you're not dealing it with its pure form… a diluted form if you will," she summarised, "Got that?"

Eriol narrowed his eyes at her as Kaho smiled mockingly at him.

"Yeah," he replied after a few tense seconds.

"But this power has been channelled into a vessel made of flesh and blood," Kaho continued, "Strengthened, yes but still vulnerable to weapons. What you need is a weapon that can do serious damage and combined with magic so that it can't be instantly healed."

"So you're saying is that I need the magical equivalent of a rocket launcher," Eriol snorted derisively, "Yeah, I'll just pop down to the corner store and get one right now."

Kaho remained silent as she studied him with piercing eyes.

"Do you think you can truly defeat this evil?" she asked softly.

"Lady, I think I have to," Eriol replied thinking of Tomoyo and the danger she was in.

He had to help her and protect her no matter what… call him a chauvinist but the idea of Tomoyo hurt in any way was distinctively uncomfortable and he would do anything in his power to prevent anything happening to Tomoyo… it didn't matter what happened to him. All that mattered was Tomoyo…

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Eriol concentrated on the task at hand.

"So how do I defeat this thing, what weapon were you thinking off?" Eriol demanded.

Kaho got up and left the room for a few seconds, she came back and put something down onto the small wooden table.

"This," she said softly gazing down at the object with an almost reverence look.

Eriol looked at it before looking up at the woman.

"You've got to be joking," he snarled.

Kaho smiled mysterious as Eriol stared at the 'weapon' incredulously.

Lying on the table was a single arrow.

* * *

Vines burst from the ground and snaked themselves around Lara and Ruflac's limbs pinning them down. With a sigh of frustration, Lara concentrated as the air around her crackled with power.

"BOOM!"

The vines literally exploded, shredded into long green fibres as Lara laughed.

"You think your parlour tricks can harm me?" she hissed.

"HUO!"

"Lightning, come forth!"

Nivaline and Xiaolang flung their magic as the possess rogue Angel as a bolt of lightning crashed down from the skies and struck her followed closely by a wave of red flames. Lara howled in rage and pain before deflecting the attacks away with a flick of her wrist.

"DIE!" she screamed as Ruflac attacked as well.

Twin bolts of energy lanced across the lawn of the safe house aiming straight for Xiaolang and Nivaline as they prepared to meet the attack head-on.

"Shield!" a weakened voice cried, "Release and dispel!"

Sakura gritted her teeth and fought back her pain as she tapped the card with the tip of her Star wand. A sparkling barrier of blue light absorbed the energy bolts as Sakura almost collapsed.

"Sakura!" Xiaolang yelled seeing that the American Angel was slowly staggering to her feet.

"This has been fun and on but really I've got places to be, people to kill," Psuedo-Sakura smirked at them, "Have fun whilst you die! Ciao!"

White light surrounded her body but before she could teleport away, Kiyone leapt at her and kicked out in a crescent kick.

"BANG!"

Psuedo-Sakura was flung backwards as Kiyone nimbly landed onto her feet.

"You 're not going anywhere," the ex-Angel smirked at her.

"Oh yeah?" Psuedo-Sakura challenged.

Before Kiyone could react, Psuedo-Sakura sweep-kicked her foot out from under her as she toppled to the ground. They both leapt up at almost the same time and began trading blow after vicious blow.

Everyone's eyes were torn away from their fight as Ruflac attacked again.

"Burn!" Ruflac spat, his eyes glittering with malice and barely contained rage, "BURN!"

Black energy lashed out from his fingers, four tendrils aiming straight for Sakura, Meiling, Xiaolang and Nivaline. The Shield card absorbed the blows meant for Nivaline and Xiaolang and Meiling was quick enough to jump to the side as the energy struck the ground tearing a long rut into the grassy soil. But in her weakened state, Sakura could only watch helplessly as the energy barrelled through the air straight for her.

"SAKURA!"

The attack crashed into her flinging her backwards onto the ground. Xiaolang and Nivaline gasped as the Shield card flickered in and out of existence before disappearing altogether.

"The Shield card…" Xiaolang whispered.

He felt sick knowing that the only way the Shield card could disappear was that if it was overpowered or if the wielder who had summoned it called it back or…

…when the wielder was dead.

Throwing a horrified glance as Sakura's prone body, Xiaolang gritted his teeth and let the rage and horror that boiled in his heart and mind loose in a huge blast of magic.

"LIGHTNING! COME FORTH!"

A huge arc of blue lightning flashed across the battlefield and struck Ruflac in the chest shoving him violently backwards.

"I'm getting very annoyed with your antics!" Ruflac snarled, sounding for all the world like an angry teacher telling off her misbehaving class, "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?"

"Bored now," Meiling informed him faking a yawn, "FREEZE CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Before anybody could react, a huge beam of blue energy burst from Meiling's card and struck Ruflac. A blast of freezing wind almost swept everyone off their feet as frost gathered onto the man's chest, it hardened and grew until it covered his whole body. Everyone stared as light glittered off the icy prison that encased the possessed mob leader.

"Whoa," Nivaline whispered awed.

"NOOOOO!!!" Lara roared in fury, her voice ripping through the air like a knife, "HOW DARE YOU!"

Meiling's eyes widened in shock as Lara held up her hand, dark energy gathering at her fingertips.

"YOU WILL PAY!" she screamed.

Five beams of crackling power shot into the air and came crashing down to earth like deadly glittering comet, each other heading towards them. Meiling and Nivaline hurriedly summoned forth magical protections as Xiaolang almost did the same until he remembered Sakura.

"SAKURA!" he gasped.

"NO! YOU'LL BE KILLED!" Nivaline yelled.

Xiaolang lunged at the prone Angel and tackled her off the way as the energy intended to destroy her smashed into the ground creating a massive smoking crater. A second attack, aimed at Xiaolang almost missed as with amazing strength and agility Xiaolang swept Sakura up in his arms and leapt to the side, the energy almost taking out his leg.

Meiling and Nivaline both grunted as the energy blasts slammed into the defences but soon fizzled out as Lara screamed in rage.

"KIYONE!" Nivaline yelled remembering the fifth member of their group.

Still deep in combat with Psuedo-Sakura, Kiyone swore loudly as she looked up and saw the dark energy bearing down on her with deadly speed. Psuedo-Sakura merely laughed as she held out her own hands.

"Nice but amateurish," she snorted as a wicked grin curved her lips.

Nivaline gasped loudly as the energy crashed into Psuedo-Sakura as Lara laughed.

"Bull's eye!" she crowed.

"Oh, contraire," a familiar voice replied mockingly, "Part of the plan, dear."

Even Lara was shocked to see Psuedo-Sakura smile behind the veil of crackling black energy that hid her from everyone else. The energy that surrounded her body supposedly trying to burn her to ashes was suddenly pulled with irresistible force and amazing speed towards Psuedo-Sakura's outstretch hands as though it was made of metal and the doppelganger's hands made of magnet. The evil counterpart laughed as the energy compacted into a dense ball of burning power in her palm as she pointed it at Kiyone.

"Boom," she laughed.

Kiyone eyes widened in shock.

Sakura stirred in Xiaolang's arms as her eyes fluttered open.

"No," she whispered hoarsely seeing what was happening.

The energy ball exploded forwards transforming into a whip of crackling darkness. It struck Kiyone across the chest, an eerie sound somewhat akin to the sound of a juicy steak sizzling on a hot grill filled the air as even Meiling gagged at the stench of burning flesh.

Kiyone flew backwards landing heavily and thankfully passed out, Nivaline was horrified at the extent of her exposed wounds trying to imagine the pain she was going through but failing miserably.

"Oh god," she whispered.

Psuedo-Sakura laughed maniacally and whipped the tendril of dark energy around. Lara was struck across the face but even as her skin burned and melted, the dark energy coursing through her body repaired the damage instantly.

"Ow," she growled with animalistic fury, "Bitch!"

"Sue me," Psuedo-Sakura smirked.

She whipped the energy at Meiling but the Angel brought her sword up in time to deflect the attack. The whip wrapped itself around the blade of the sword as Meiling yanked with all her might. Psuedo-Sakura cursed loudly as her end of the 'whip' flew out of her hands. Meiling hurriedly untangled her sword from the energy and watched as it sailed overhead barely missing her and landing on the lawn where it scorched the grass and earth until it slowly fizzled out.

"Well, this has been fun and all but…" Psuedo-Sakura sighed dramatically, "You're not my concern… for now."

She gave them a small wave and smirked at them.

"See you in hell!" she said cheerfully before light claimed her body and she teleported away.

Xiaolang felt Sakura move in his arms again.

"Don't move," he said softly to her, "You're hurt."

"I'm fine!" Sakura gritted out as her hands slowly tightened around her Star Wand, "Move card! Get us away from here! Release and dispel!"

She barely had enough energy left to throw her card onto the ground and needed Xiaolang's help in guiding the tip of her wand to the card's surface. Gently tapping the card with her wand, Sakura collapsed in Xiaolang's arms as two pairs of petite pink wings burst from the card and flew around the partially destroyed lawn weaving a trail of pink powder around Xiaolang and Sakura. It flew to Meiling and Nivaline sprinkling them with pink powder before dumping the rest onto Kiyone's unmoving body.

Before Lara could attack again, light flashed through the air and they were gone.

"GOD DAMN IT!"

* * *

"Turn around."

Tomoyo's eyes flicked up to the rear-view mirror as she sped down the freeway.

"I'm not sure that's wise," she said quietly, every instinct in her body screaming at her to turn around and help her friends.

=NO!= she told herself firmly =Zachary and Chelsea need to get away from those psychos. Now=

"Turn around," Zachary said again quietly.

"I can't do that," Tomoyo whispered obviously wavering.

"I know we can't help," Zachary smiled for the first time in what seemed ages, "But you can. You, Sakura and Meiling… you're a team. They need you."

"They don't," Tomoyo replied, reminded for perhaps the millionth time that if only she had magic, she would be able to aid her friends in fighting Lara and Ruflac.

"Tomoyo," Chelsea added gently, "They do. You may not have magical powers but you still have your fighting skills and your amazing ability to stay calm even when under fire. Tomoyo, trust me. They need you… this thing… that crazy power that possessed what's her name… Lara is more important than me or Zachary. It's more important than Lilia's petty hatred of Zachary or his attempting to kill him. We're just bystanders in this… Tomoyo, you're a key player. They. Need. You."

Tomoyo looked at them via the rear-view mirror again, both of them had determined looks on their faces.

"If we got back, you're going to be in danger," Tomoyo stated quietly, "A lot of danger."

"Then we'll choose danger," Zachary replied softly.

Tomoyo bit her lip still unsure if this was the wisest plan.

"If we turn back…" she sighed knowing she had to be blunt, "You may not survive this."

Silence reigned in the car before Chelsea spoke up.

"There's a risk," she admitted before her face hardened, "But I'm not afraid."

Her husband nodded in reply.

Silent applauding them for their courage and determination, Tomoyo nodded before swerving into a sudden U-turn causing the driver behind her to blare his horn and swear at her violently. Ignoring him, Tomoyo cut another car off as she went into the opposite lane and sped off heading back to L.A.

Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Tomoyo hoped that she would arrive back in time.

She just had to.

* * *

Eriol stared at the arrow incredulously before looking up into Kaho's calm eyes.

"What the hell are you trying to pull off?" he growled.

Kaho smiled at him calmly.

"It may not look like much…" she began.

"Damn right!"

"But this arrow has been enchanted," Kaho lifted the arrow up to the light as Eriol could see the fine runes and symbols that had been etched into the metal and wood, "It is designed to penetrate all magical attacks and defences. And when it strikes someone with magical powers it drains that power away."

Eriol was silent for a few seconds.

"How much?" he asked.

Kaho was taken slightly aback.

"Pardon?" she asked, her perfect manners still in place.

"How much," Eriol repeated gesturing at the arrow, "For this?"

Kaho laughed.

"It's free," she smiled handing it to him, "Oh and you need something to fire that thing."

She got up to get something but stopped as Eriol gently grabbed her arm.

"Why?" he asked looking up at her with piercing eyes, "Why are you helping me… for free?"

Kaho smiled back at him.

"You don't know, do you?" she asked, "You are the Half. You play a pivotal role in the ancient prophecy. The power that courses through your enemy needs to be stopped. Now. If it isn't stopped… the whole world will be plunged into darkness."

Eriol gazed at her in shock as Kaho sent him a small smile before shaking his hand off her and walking out of the room.

Eriol stared at the arrow in his hands.

"Ancient prophecy?"

* * *

Somehow Sakura had managed to teleport all to the hospital, which was good thing considering the critical state both she and Kiyone were in.

Even the medics had gasped seeing the bloody cuts and burns that had been inflicted on Kiyone thanks to Psuedo-Sakura's energy whip and Sakura hadn't fared much better after being hit with multiple energy blasts.

Both of them had been immediately admitted to the Intense Care Unit as doctors hurriedly conducted tests on them, trying to understand the full extent of their injuries. Meiling, Nivaline and Xiaolang had been forced into a separate treatment room as nurses quickly disinfected their wounds, binding them with bandages before handing them several antibiotic tablets to swallow.

"Can we see them now?" Meiling demanded for the thousandth time.

An elderly nurse who was halfway through treating Nivaline smiled at her before replying, her voice warm and reassuring.

"Be patient," she advised, "These things can't be rushed. Your friends were badly injured."

"Tell me something I don't know," Meiling muttered.

"Calm down," Nivaline sighed before wincing slightly as the nurse poured some disinfectant on a minor cut she had on her arm, "Ow!"

The nurse ignored her as she gently pressed a bandage against the cut before wrapping it securely around her arm.

"There," she announced, standing back to admire her work, "A police will be here in a few seconds to collect your statements."

With that she turned around and walked out of the room as the three occupants inside stared at each other.

"Police?"

"Here?"

"Statements?!?"  
They continued to stare at each other for a few more seconds, trying to digest the bombshell that nurse had unknowingly dropped.

"What are we going to say?" Meiling wailed.

"Chill," Nivaline said calmly, "Look we need to fabricate a story but we need to be sure we all give the same facts."

They fell silent as each of them tried to come up with a plausible story.

"We'll just say we're not sure what happened," Meiling said slowly, "It happened so fast… out of nowhere… sudden… couldn't see anything. Be very vague and then say we're very tried and can they please come another time."

Xiaolang nodded.

"That's seems good," he agreed.

Another moment of silence descended onto the room.

"I'm worried," Xiaolang said softly.

Meiling snorted and rolled her eyes.

"We all are."

"How do you think they are?" Nivaline asked quietly.

"Fine… hopefully," Meiling muttered, ever realistic.

"I hope," Xiaolang echoed, a worried look on his face.

Meiling stared at him strangely.

"Why are you so concerned about them?" she wondered, "You barely know Kiyone or Saku…"

Her eyes widened as a wicked grin came over her face.

"Oh," she smirked, "Oh…"

"Oh what?" Nivaline demanded.

Her sharp hazel-green eyes caught the faint blush spreading over Xiaolang's face as she too began grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"Hmmm… how very interesting…" the older woman said slowly still grinning at him evilly.

Xiaolang tried to ignore them as he continued to worry about the young woman lying somewhere in this hospital.

=She's going to be fine= Xiaolang told himself.

At least he thought she was…

* * *

Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock as she took in the scene that lay before her. It looked like several bombs had gone off on the lawn of the safe house resulting in several smoking black craters dotting the lush green grass.

"Holy…" Chelsea whispered her face pale.

Zachary stared at the destruction, not speaking but the sweat glistening across his forehead betraying his fear.

"Zachary," Tomoyo said softly, "I want you to get into the driver's seat when I get out. If anything happens, drive off without me. Do it, forget about me… I'll be fine, I promise."

"Liar," Zachary replied but nodding his consent.

Tomoyo nodded back and cautiously opened the door, her senses on high alert. She slipped out as Zachary wriggled around in the car finally managing to squirm from his position on the backseat and into the driver's seat.

The Japanese Angel gazed around taking in the damage as she walked up to the front door of the safe house. A glistening patch of grass caught her eye as Tomoyo turned to study it closely; she froze realising that it was a patch of frost.

"Okay…" she said slowly wondering how frost managed to form on a single patch of grass in the middle of such a hot day.

Reminding herself why she was here, Tomoyo turned back to the safe house and stealthily walked up the steps to the front door. Carefully nudging the door open, she stepped inside.

It was silent.

Tomoyo walked to the living room, careful to be as quiet as possible. She walked through the threshold and was startled to find it was empty.

"Guys?" she called, "Meiling? Sakura?"

No answer.

Tomoyo frowned.

"Where are they?" she muttered to herself.

=The headquarters?= she wondered.

The Angel shrugged, it was the only place she could think off. Quickly dashing out of the living room and out of safe house, she ran to the car and flung the door open.

"Move inside," she ordered.

Zachary wriggled into the other seat as Tomoyo slipped into the driver's seat and turned on the engine.

"Where are we going?" Zachary asked, "Where are they?"

Tomoyo shook her head.

"I don't know where they are. But I'm going to find out."

And with that she peeled away from the safe house and drove back to the Angel's headquarters.

* * *

Psuedo-Sakura sighed in frustration as she paced around the warehouse that was her temporary headquarters.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY?" she raged stomping her foot creating several cracks in the solid concrete.

She had spent the last hour casting out her senses trying to seek out the Yamazakis but couldn't find them.

"Impossible," she snarled, "GOD DAMN IT! IMPOSSIBLE!"

She calmed down as she closed her eyes and concentrated. Once again she tried to sense them but even after going through every mind she could find she still couldn't find them.

"HOW COULD THIS BE?" she screamed before instantly calming down and trying again.

This time a new mind came to her attention; she concentrated trying to find out who this new person was.

"Alicia Rueben?" she said aloud, "God damn it! I don't need you!"

Suddenly she froze.

"Alicia Rueben…" she repeated beginning to read this woman's mind, "Assassin… her new target…"

An evil smirk flashed across Psuedo-Sakura's face.

"Zachary Yamazaki," she whispered, "Good, I have a new lead."

She blinked and with a huge flash of bright light she disappeared.

* * *

"Stupid girls," Lara growled as she studied the human popsicle Ruflac had become, "Hurting my dear Ruflac."

With a sigh, she gestured and the ice that surrounded Ruflac disappeared collapsing to the marble floor of his mansion/headquarters.

"What happened?" he demanded weakly staggering to his feet.

"Some witch bitch froze you," Lara snarled.

"I'll kill her!" Ruflac roared.

Lara laughed.

"Honey, you couldn't hurt a fly. You're weak after that attack," Lara pushed herself off the couch she had been sitting in, "I'll deal with this."

"How?" Ruflac demanded, "You need me. One of those blasted Angels would teleport all of them away."

"True," Lara sighed.

She began pacing around the living room trying to come up with a plan.

"I need something that will make them come to me and something that will make sure they don't run away…" suddenly she clicked her fingers, "Of course! A hostage!"

"Who's going to be your hostage?" Ruflac asked stumbling towards the couch and managing to sit himself down as he collapsed on it, tired out from his short trip.

Lara cocked her head to the side as she thought trying to think of the perfect hostage.

"That couple!" she said suddenly, "That couple in the car! Remember how one of those Angel losers threw herself in the way of the attack that was coming straight for them? Obviously she cares about them and they're obviously powerless."

Lara laughed.  
"Perfect hostage material."

"How are you going to find them?" Ruflac demanded.

"Simple," Lara laughed, "Magic."

Dark energy exploded outwards from her eyes and mouth bathing her in black light. Ruflac looked away as with a loud bang and with a plume of smoke she disappeared.

* * *

Somehow, somewhere along the way between summoning the Move card and its mistress fainting the Star wand had changed back into its key form and reappeared around its mistress's neck. No one knew how but it had happened. Such was the power of this magical artefact.

And it had other powers as well.

Gold energy burst from the key bathing its mistress with warmth, light and more importantly, healing powers. Internal bleeding, cuts, bruises, burns… all of them healed and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Sakura slowly stirred as the light faded having done its work.

"Wha…' she sat up, "Where am I?"

She looked around and seeing the medical equipment that was connected to her displaying her heartbeat and other bodily functions for the world to see, realised she was in a hospital.

"Oh man," she moaned, "Please don't tell me I went into another coma."

She took a deep breath and was shocked to realise she was in no pain even though she had been hammered by Lara and Ruflac's magic attacks.

"Nurse! Anyone! Please!" Sakura called, "I'm awake!"

Suddenly the door to her room swung open and a nurse's head popped in, her eyes bulged as she stared at the healthy girl sitting up in bed.

"Oh god! It's a miracle!" the nurse cried becoming flustered, "You were so badly injured… we thought you were doing to di… I'll get the doctor… I'll get…"

She left as Sakura sighed and wondered where all her friends were.

And Kiyone…

Sakura gulped remembering Kiyone getting thrashed by her doppelganger.

"Oh god."

Several minutes later and after being checked up by the doctor, Sakura had been forced to use the Star key to persuade the doctor not to run any tests and she was fine and ready to leave.

It had taken her a while to find where her friends were but here she was standing at the door of a seemingly bland and featureless hospital room.

She opened the door.

"Sakura?" Meiling gasped.

Xiaolang and Nivaline slowly turned around.

"How…" Xiaolang gasped going pale.

Nivaline stared at her as it suddenly dawned on her, the reason behind Sakura's miraculous recovery.

"The Star key!" she gasped, "It's magic…"

Sakura nodded.

"And now I'm 100% fine!" she announced.

"How's Kiyone?" Nivaline asked worriedly.

Sakura shrugged.

"They wouldn't allow me to see her," she sighed obviously frustrated, "I wish I could… but there's other things to deal with here… namely Lara and Psuedo-Sakura. We need to take care of them. Now."

"How?" Xiaolang asked softly shaking out of his shock, "How?"

"Well, we need to deal with Psuedo-Sakura. We need to draw her away…" Meiling began.

Xiaolang smirked.

"Easy," he held up his hand as an orb of blue light gathered in it, "Remember the veil spell I cast on Zachary and Chelsea to hide them. This thing contains a copy of their essence, if Psuedo-Sakura tries to magically sense for them she'll zero in on this."

"Good," Sakura nodded, "That gets rid of her. We'll hide it somewhere and she'll find that and stand out of her hair."

Xiaolang nodded as he gestured and the orb disappeared.

"Now for Lara and Ruflac…" Nivaline sighed, "Where do we find them?"

"Well that's where I can help."

* * *

Alicia Rueben jumped as a burst of white light suddenly illuminated her million-dollar apartment.

"What the?" she gasped whirling around, grasping for a gun.

"Hey!" a strangely familiar voice cried.

Alicia blinked recognising the figure standing before her as the woman who had saved Zachary from her bullet.

"You!" she gasped raising her gun and firing with deadly accuracy.

The woman's body jerked as the bullet slammed into her body, over and over again. But to Alicia's astonishment the woman just laughed.

"Oooo… the pain, the pain!" she sneered as Alicia watched, stunned as the bullet holes began healing up, "You have something I want."

"What?" Alicia scowled slowly backing up, her hands scrambling behind her as she backed up against a wooden cabinet.

Carefully she opened a drawer, talking to keep the woman's attention of what she was doing as she searched for a better weapon.

"The location of Zachary Yamazaki," the woman said calmly, "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Alicia smirked as her hand gripped something tightly, "But you'll be seeing him in hell!"

She whipped the semi-automatic rifle she had hidden in her cabinet and fired bursts of light and smoke illuminating the air. A hail of bullets ripped into the woman as Alicia continued firing until the gun stopped, running out of bullets.

"God," the woman sighed.

Alicia's eyes widened in shock as the gun fell out of her suddenly paralysed fingers.

"You know how annoying that is?" the woman demanded glaring at her, "Stop firing at me!"

"I don't know where he is," Alicia said calmly between gritted teeth refusing to panic.

"Wrong answer," the woman informed her.

With a scream of fury, the assassin leapt forwards pummelling her with powerful blows. The mysterious woman merely grabbed her arms and threw her across the room. The blow was enough to smash the wall apart hurling Alicia into her bedroom, to Psuedo-Sakura's astonishment the assassin stood up seemingly unharmed.

"You want to try that again?" Alicia demanded whipping a trail of blood away from her chin, "… Bitch?"

"You're not human," Psuedo-Sakura commented.

"Not a normal human, if that's what you mean," Alicia spat.

"Oh well, normal or not you're still going down," Psuedo-Sakura rushed at her and took a wild swing.

Alicia duck and punched her in the kidneys as Psuedo-Sakura gasped in pain. She kneed the woman in the face and kicked her away.

"You know if I were human I'd been screaming in pain right now," Psuedo-Sakura noted conversationally, "But then again I'm now."

She lunged forwards and punched Alicia in the throat. The assassin stumbled backwards choking for breath until she backed into the ceiling-to-floor window of her bedroom.

"Game's over honey, please insert coin to start again," Psuedo-Sakura laughed as she leapt forwards into a flying kick and struck her.

Alicia was punched through the glass as she sailed through the air. Psuedo-Sakura watched as Alicia fell from five stories down and hit the hard ground below.

"Humans," Psuedo-Sakura muttered, "They die so easily."

She turned away from the window and strolled away. Down below Alicia Rueben's eyes flicked open, even though she should've been killed by the fall the African-American assassin staggered to her feet blood dripping down from the wounds inflicted along her body.

No one could've survived the fall… no human that is.

* * *

"Tomoyo?!?"

"What?" Meiling scowled, "I thought I told you to take Zachary and Chelsea away from here!"

"They wanted to come back," Tomoyo explained strolling to the centre of the room.

Meiling opened her mouth to protest but Tomoyo cut her off.

"Look you want to argue, argue with them but if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here. If I weren't here I wouldn't be able to tell you where Lara is."

"You know where Lara is?" Nivaline demanded.

Tomoyo shrugged.

"Not exactly but I have a fair idea," Tomoyo pulled out a black mobile phone from her pocket, "Remember this?"

Meiling nodded.

"That's the mobile phone you find that those guys who tried to kill you used," Meiling frowned, "So what?"

"I went back to our headquarters and retrieved this as well as my laptop," Tomoyo sighed, "Considering the damage I'm lucky they both survived."

Sakura groaned remembering the damage Lara had caused to their beloved headquarters.

"Don't remind me," she muttered.

"Anyway, I managed to track down the calls made on and to this phone. There's only been one call to this phone, a private number but I managed to track it down to a phone number listed as a mansion in the Bel-Air area," Tomoyo explained, "I also managed to retrieve part of the call. I believe its Ruflac's voice that called those gunmen. He was the one who tried to kill me."

"Wait," Xiaolang frowned, "How did you find us."

"I hacked into the hospital records and find that someone fitting Kiyone and Sakura's description had been admitted here," Tomoyo shrugged, "It was easy to find you from there."

"Where's Zachary and Chelsea?" Sakura demanded.

"I've sent them back to my house," Tomoyo shrugged helplessly, "I didn't know where else to send them to."

"Maybe out of this state would've been nice!" Sakura snapped.

"Hey!" Tomoyo protested beginning to argue.

"Stop it!" Nivaline commanded breaking in, "Stop fighting, let's kill the all-powerful people before we bicker. So okay, Xiaolang…"

The young man nodded.

"Go hide your spell somewhere so that Psuedo-Sakura's drawn to it. Hopefully somewhere far away."

Xiaolang nodded as he held out his hands. The blue orb of light manifested itself again as Xiaolang concentrated chanting under his breath with a flash of blue light the spell disappeared sent to his remote location.

"Done," he announced.

"So that's Psuedo-Sakura taken care of," Meiling said with satisfaction, "Now Lara?"

Nivaline nodded.

"We hit them suddenly and hard," she warned them, "It's our only chance. What's the time?"

Meiling glanced at her watch.

"Six," she announced, "Almost sunset."  
"We fight them for half an hour max," Nivaline ordered, "If we don't beat them by then. We get out. Understood?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good," Nivaline sat back satisfied, "We move out. Sakura?"

Sakura nodded as she and Meiling quickly summoned their magical tools. Tomoyo quickly gave Sakura the address of the mansion as Sakura summoned the Move card.

"Move card! Take us to this mansion! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

With a bright flash of light, they were off to fight the two most powerful and deadly magical creatures on earth.

* * *

Psuedo-Sakura froze.

"I can sense them!" she smirked, "Got you now!"

Quickly she summoned her magic and disappeared in a spectacular blaze of light eager to capture Zachary and Chelsea Yamazaki once and for all.

* * *

Lara's eyes widened as she sensed her prey.

"Well the hard parts over," Lara smirked, "Bait's been find. Now all I have to do is to capture them. Then goodbye Angels."

Black energy consumed her body as she disappeared continuing on her path to revenge.

* * *

Ruflac jumped as bright light flash through his mansion.

"What the hell?" he demanded.

"Hey!" Meiling smirked, suddenly appeared in the middle of his living room, "Remember me?"

Before Ruflac got a chance to reply, Meiling blasted him across the room with a huge burst of flames.

Sakura swung her Star wand around and summoned forth the Shot card, darts of yellow energy stinging his skin and inflicting some wounds.

"That hurt!" Ruflac roared as he flung his hand outwards and blasted them backwards with a burst of dark energy.

The five of them were flung backwards as the energy struck them but they quickly jumped to their feet ready to fight. Ruflac gathered his power and the fight truly began.

* * *

Eriol pulled up beside Ruflac's mansion and checked once more ensuring that the 'magical' arrow was fitted perfectly inside the crossbow, ready to fire.

"This is it," he whispered to himself knowing full well that he might now survive.

But it was worth it.

Protecting Tomoyo was more important to him than anything else.

Including his life.

* * *

Psuedo-Sakura blinked as she took in her surroundings, which seemed to be an abandon warehouse located somewhere. Glancing around, she frowned seeing that neither Chelsea nor Zachary was here. She cast her senses around and smiled sensing that they were close by.

She paced around and froze seeing a heavy metal door locked shut right in front of her according to her magic they were located behind this door.

"Lucky door number 1," she smirked as she moved to open it.

"Get the hell away from that door!" a voice barked behind her.

Psuedo-Sakura turned around slowly as Lara Williams glared at her, dark energy making her eyes black as night.

"I thought I killed you," Lara said slowly, "That night in Santa Barbara. But I was wrong… you lived but I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Psuedo-Sakura snorted realising Lara thought she was the real thing.

"Listen lady, I'm not the re…"

Lara flung her hands upwards and a bolt of dark energy struck Psuedo-Sakura's chest as the doppelganger screamed in pain.

* * *

"LIGHTNING! COME FORTH!"  
A bolt of lightning flashed across the room striking Ruflac in the chest, the possessed man stumbled backwards as Meiling blinked realising he wasn't as strong as he was when they first faced him.

"He's been weakened," she whispered.

Ruflac's head snapped up as though he had heard her.

"Still strong enough for you!" he snarled sending a blast of dark energy at her.

Meiling gracefully leapt into the air performing a perfect flip as the attack sailed beneath, she landed in a perfect stance as she smirked at Ruflac.

"Nice try."

She flung a card onto the floor.

"WATERY! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

The tiny water-sprint sprung from the card before striking Ruflac with its watery tentacles binding him as Nivaline attacked.

"XUE!"

A jet of freezing wind buffeted the man creating a layer of frost on his body as he screamed in pain and struggled against his watery bonds. With a cry of rage, he lashed out his magic striking the Watery card and flinging it backwards as he unleashed a wave of dark energy at them.

"SHIELD CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Sakura cried.

A dome of blue energy blocked the attack as Ruflac stamped his feet in fury.

"DAMN YOU! STOP THAT! STOP USING YOUR GOD DAMN MAGIC!'

"Fine," Tomoyo smirked, "Look. No magic."

Ruflac had no time to react as Tomoyo kicked the small coffee table standing in the middle of the room up into the air, she whirled around and snap-kicked it the force of the blow sending the table rocketing across the room straight at Ruflac. It struck him in the chest exploding into splinters as he staggered backwards.

"See no magic and I still manage to kick you ass," Tomoyo sneered.

"Die," Ruflac whispered firing a huge ball of dark energy at her.

Sakura summoned the Shield card again but gasped in shock as the attack merely punched through her barrier. Tomoyo had no time to react as the dark energy shot straight at her ready to tear the flesh from her bones.

"NOOOOOO!!!!"

* * *

"Bitch!" Psuedo-Sakura pushed through the attack and struck Lara across the face drawing blood as Lara howled in pain.

She kicked Psuedo-Sakura in the stomach driving the air from the doppelganger's body before performing a perfect back flip kicking her in the face in the process. Psuedo-Sakura was flung backwards and hit the ground, hard as Lara laughed.

"You think you could defeat me?" she snarled.

Psuedo-Sakura glared at her.

"I know I can," she hissed as she flipped back to her feet.

She punched Lara in the side of the face and then nailed her with her opposite arm, Lara's head was flung violently side-to-side as Psuedo-Sakura continued to hammer her.

"Stop that!" she yelled seriously annoyed as she grabbed the doppelganger's arm and flipped her onto her back.

She raised her arm and tried to punch her in the face but Psuedo-Sakura rolled to the right as Lara's fist made a huge dent in the concrete. The doppelganger kicked Lara in the chest with both legs sending her flying across the warehouse and into the wall creating a gaping hole as she flipped onto her feet.

"Come on," she hissed, "Bring it on!"

With a roar of rage, Lara dashed across the room her arm cocked back and ready to punch. Psuedo-Sakura lunged at her, her arm in a similar position.

"BAM!"

Both of them connected at the same time, the force of their punches sending them both flying backwards. At the exactly the same moment they hit the ground, for a few seconds they laid there trying to regain their breath before slowly staggering to their feets both gasping in pain.

"It looks like we're evenly matched," Lara hissed.

Psuedo-Sakura laughed.

"Uh-uh," she refuted, "I'm just warming up."

Lara lunged at her trying to hit her with a flying-kick but to her shock, white light surrounded Psuedo-Sakura's body and she disappeared. Lara hit the ground heavily as she looked around trying to search for her opponent.

"What the?" she looked up as bright light appeared in front of her.

"Hi!" Psuedo-Sakura smirked suddenly appearing in front of her.

She kicked Lara in the face throwing her backward as the rogue Angel roared in rage.

"Dirty trick!" she snarled trying to nail her with a right hook.

Once again Psuedo-Sakura disappeared only to reappear when Lara completely missed. Taking advantage of her unbalance Psuedo-Sakura kicked her in the gut.

"Oh please," Psuedo-Sakura smirked blocking an attempt knee to the stomach.

Lara tried to take her out with a roundhouse kick but Psuedo-Sakura disappeared again, reappearing behind her and pushing her almost playfully in the back sending her stumbling forwards.

"Like this is an honourable fight and I'm an honourable person," Psuedo-Sakura laughed as Lara whirled around and tried to hit her again.

She disappeared and reappeared again several metres away.

"You can't defeat me," Psuedo-Sakura smirked as Lara charged at her, "In fact…"

She disappeared as Lara passed through suddenly empty space only to find that Psuedo-Sakura reappear again in mid-air striking her with a flying kick.

"You can't touch me," Psuedo-Sakura smiled impishly landing nimbly on the ground.

"Stay still!" Lara cried charging at her again.

Another swing and another miss as Psuedo-Sakura disappeared. This time however as Psuedo-Sakura began to reappear, Lara whirled around and blasted her with a bolt of dark energy.

"Touched you there," Lara smirked studying the huge burn across the doppelganger's chest.

"Oh, this?" Psuedo-Sakura gestured at her wound, "Merely superficial. Heal up in a couple of seconds."

Lara's eyes widened as the wound closed and disappeared replaced by healthy skin.

"See?" Psuedo-Sakura laughed, "Honey, are you out of your league."

"Don't honey me," Lara roared, "I'm not finished yet."

"No not yet. But almost," Psuedo-Sakura laughed.

Lara hurled another bolt of dark energy at her but this time Psuedo-Sakura held out her hand and laughed as the dark energy wrapped itself around her arm twining itself around her like a tame serpent. She pointed at Lara and the rogue Angel had no time to dodge as her own attack lashed out back at her striking her in the chest and throwing her backwards.

"See?" Psuedo-Sakura sashayed over to her, "You're finished."

* * *

Eriol had sneaked into Ruflac's mansion and had been startled to hear the sound of a battle going on so he had followed the noise and made his way towards the impressive living room that once would've been stunningly beautiful if not for the amazing amount of damage done to the place. He had been shocked (an understatement) to see Tomoyo in battle with the possess Ruflac but not had been nothing compared to his shock as seeing Ruflac attacking her.

"NOOOOOO!!!!" he screamed knowing that the energy would kill her instantly.

Shaking himself out of his stunned horror, he raised his crossbow and fired. The enchanted arrow whistled through the air narrowly missing Tomoyo's head and it sped forwards, everybody gasped in shock as the arrow struck the ball of dark energy and tore it apart as Ruflac's jaws dropped in shock as panic set in realising that the arrow was aiming straight for him.

He threw up a barrier of dark energy but the arrow sliced through it as though it was made of paper. At the last moment, he tried to jump to the side but was too late as the arrow thudded into his chest.

Instantly his dark eyes seem to dim as Meiling and Xiaolang took the chance to attack.

"FIRE! COME FORTH!"  
"FIERY CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Twin jets of flames struck Ruflac as the man screamed in pain before summoning a bolt of dark energy. It was a sad shadow of his previous attacks, obviously the arrow had done massive damage but it still managed to hit Xiaolang and had enough power to throw him back against the wall.

"Xiaolang!" Sakura gasped as the young man's head smashed against the hard marble as he slipped to the ground, out cold.

"DIE!" Ruflac screamed summoning up the last dregs of his power.

He flung a massive blast of dark energy at them as Sakura hurriedly held up her Star wand.

"SHIELD CARD! DEFLECT THE ATTACK! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" she cried.

A barrier of sparkling blue energy sprung up between them and the incoming attack as the sky outside turned a fiery red as the sun began to sink into the land. Stars began to appear as the darkness of night chased away the last rays of sunshine.

The dark energy struck the Shield card and was flung backwards straight at Ruflac, Nivaline frowned realising something had happened. Ruflac was bleeding horribly now but he fought back his pain as he tried to control his wayward attack. He flung his arm outwards but nothing happened, no magic happened. Nivaline could sense it; this man had no magical powers what so ever.

But how?  
"What on earth?" she gasped.

Ruflac screamed as the dark energy slammed into his already weakened body, everyone looked away as the energy burnt at his skin and flesh tearing him apart. With a huge bang, the dark power ripped through his power and exploded flinging burning flesh everywhere.

Eriol, satisfied that Ruflac was dead and not wanting Tomoyo to know he was there quickly slipped away, confusion and questions ringing through his mind.

"His head," Sakura murmured, "But how?"

"The spell must have run out," Nivaline said quietly, "The spell that harness energy from the Void card to Lara must've been finished."

"Still I can't help wondering," Meiling said with a frown as she looked around, "What happened to Lara?"

* * *

Psuedo-Sakura kicked Lara in the ribs as the rogue Angel rolled over and groaned in pain.

"You're finished," the doppelganger smirked as the sky outside began to darken.

She raised her foot ready to stomp Lara's head into the ground as the woman roared in fury.

"NOOO!!!"

Dark energy burst from her body and cocooned her in its burning embrace as Lara Williams teleported away.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Psuedo-Sakura noted smirking, "But still, I won against the big bad!"

She continued to crow over her victory as she strolled towards the thick iron doors. With a flick of her wrist, she broke the lock and flung the door open.

"Hey, my pretties! Guess who's he…" Psuedo-Sakura stopped as her eyes widened in shock.

Instead of Zachary and Chelsea Yamazaki there was a ball of blue energy floating in the air. Psuedo-Sakura gasped as she realised she had been tricked.

"NO!!! DAMN IT! NOOOOO!!!"

* * *

Lara teleported herself to Los Angeles hospital knowing she was badly wounded. She gasped feeling the power that had been coursing through her body beginning to fade.

"No," she gasped, "No! The power! Please!"

As medics swarmed around her, the rogue Angel screamed before fainting.

* * *

"Xiaolang?" Sakura gently shook the young man's prone body.

Nivaline, Meiling and Tomoyo had already left, gone to get a car as Sakura tried to wake Xiaolang. Slowly his burning amber eyes fluttered open, his sleepy gaze met her own emerald eyes as a soft smile appeared on his face.

"Ahh… Sakura…" he whispered, "My love."

* * *

And with that he fell back into unconsciousness as Sakura stared at him.

"Sakura?" Nivaline asked.

They had ended back at Tomoyo's house with much celebration even though Xiaolang was still unconscious resting in Tomoyo's room but Sakura had escaped the partying and had ended up outside gazing up into the stars.

"Nivaline… what is magic?" Sakura asked still staring up into the dark sky, "Is it good? It is bad?"

Nivaline sighed.

"Sakura, you killed Ruflac because you had to."

"No, it's just not that," Sakura sighed before staring into Nivaline's warm and compassionate eyes, "It's just… Psuedo-Sakura… she's made from… me. And she's like evil reincarnated… does this mean I'm evil? Do I have this dark side to me that's ready to come out and kill?"

"Sakura," Nivaline turned to look at her, "This world both physical, natural and magical is about balance. Every mage knows that. Like fire and water, the earth and the sea, the sun and the moon… it's all about balance. It's physics: every action had a reaction. Psuedo-Sakura was created to try and challenge you… to create a sort of a balance between the two of you… darkness to you Angels' light. Of course she's evil, she has to be to even try and beat you. I see Psuedo-Sakura's evilness as not being a part of you but rather the opposite of you. So if Psuedo-Sakura is really evil… it means you are really good."

"Thanks," Sakura smiled at her, comforted by her words.

"Come on," Nivaline beamed back at her, "Let's party!"

"Maybe in a while," Sakura replied softly, Nivaline nodded as she turned around and opened Tomoyo's front door before walking back into the house.

Sakura stared at the moon.

"Lake of balance…" she whispered suddenly remembering Yue's cryptic clue.

Suddenly she froze remembering what Nivaline had just told her.

=It's all about balance… like fire and water, the earth and the sea, the sun and the moon…= she gasped.

"The Sun and the Moon! The Lake of balance!" Sakura cried suddenly beginning to pace around as it finally came to her: the location of the mirror, "Balance! I know where it is now! I know where the mirror is!"

And with that she whirled around and dashed back into the house.

* * *

LONGEST CHAPTER EVER! That took a long time and a lot of energy but it's done!!!!!

Next chapter:

After uncovering the location of the mirror, the three Angels head off trying to retrieve the artefact not knowing that trouble is still brewing in L.A.. But that's the only problem, Psuedo-Sakura is still around and Yue's prophecy is also coming true: a terrible guardian will stand in their way. But something else terrible is about to happen… what is it? You'll just have to find out in… _Mirror, mirror_

A/Note:

Longest chapter ever! Can't believe this is over 30 pages long! I don't think any other chapter will be as long (except for perhaps the final chapter… maybe).

Well, how did I go? This chapter was the long because of extensive magic battles, the fight scene between Psuedo-Sakura and Lara and the final battle between Ruflac and the Angels. How was it? Interesting, exciting, boring? Please, please tell me!

And for all S/S fans… don't you hate me for dragging it out? Will this be a SS fic… still unsure but it's possible!!!! (I'm evil)

Well, after that short piece of rambling only one real piece of news to give… there is only about 5 chapters left!!! 5 chapters to go! But don't worry 'Syaoran's Angels: P.S.' (you'll have to find out what that stands for later… hahahahaha!!!), is in its early staging plans and will probably be 'darker' than this one… but keep in mind that this fic is a W.I.P. so delays are expected! So be patient and please RR!!!!


	28. Mirror, mirror

FINALLY! A new chapter! Sorry, writer's block is to blame for the delay! PLEASE RR, 20 new reviews = new chapter! 

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS but I sure do own the storyline and original characters!

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 27: Mirror, mirror**

"I know where it is!"

Everyone stared at her as she burst through the door yelling almost maniacally.

"What?" Meiling asked, confused and wondering if something had happened to her.

"I know where it is!" Sakura gasped, "The mirror!"

"Where?" Tomoyo demanded.

"The Lake of Balance," Sakura whispered, "I know what it means!"

Silence descended onto the room as everyone continued to stare at her, outside crickets chirped cheerfully as Sakura gazed back at them.

"Well?" Meiling asked arching an eyebrow, "Are you going to keep this suspenseful silence thing up for long? Because this staring competition is getting old."

"Oh right," Sakura took a deep breath, "The Sun Moon Lake."

A confused frown appeared on Diana's face.

"Okay, call me slow or ignorant," she began, "But is there such a place?"

"I've never heard of it," Marcus confessed.

"Me neither," Chelsea agreed.

Even Tomoyo and Meiling were confused as Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Well, girls and boys gather round," she told them tapping her feet impatiently, "Cause here's a crash course in Taiwanese geography, Sun Moon Lake is a lake located in Taiwan at the base of the Chungyang mountain range. And I think that's where the mirror is located."

"Sun Moon Lake?" Tomoyo pursed her lips thinking for a few seconds, "Umm… are you sure?"

Sakura nodded quickly.

"Think about it… lake of balance, in terms of magic, myths and some religious beliefs," Sakura shot a glance at Nivaline who nodded serenely, "The sun and moon serve to balance out each other. Therefore balance… and Yue's other clue the Lake of fire and tides. Fire and sun are often closely related and what causes the tides in the ocean?"

"The moon," Meiling whispered finally realising her fellow Angel maybe onto something, "Sun Moon Lake."

Nivaline nodded.

"All the clues seem to add up," she remarked, "I think it would be fair to say you should go there and investigate."

"So soon?" Diana asked incredulously, "I mean you guys just risked your lives and limbs to battle some evil power… don't you deserve a vacation or something?"

To her surprise all three Angels sighed dreamily.

"A vacation…" Sakura mused, "Man, that would be nice."

"I swear I need one right now," Meiling muttered.

"I promise when this is over I'll take you on one," Marcus spoke up grinning at her.

A faint blush mantled Meiling's cheek as the two gazed at each other, similar looks of love and adoration shining in their eyes as the others stared at them. Tomoyo and Sakura smirked at each other knowingly.

"A vacation?" Tomoyo repeated.

"To where?" Sakura continued.

"A nice beach somewhere perhaps?" Tomoyo added.

"A secluded paradise maybe where no-one will disturb you. Where you can enjoy the ocean and the sunset," Sakura pretended to think a smirk appearing on her face, "Of course you maybe too… busy with other things to notice the scenery."

Everyone cracked up laughing as Meiling sent a death-glare at Sakura as Marcus resisted the urge to blush. Tomoyo and Sakura sent eerily similar grins at Meiling as the Asian Angel fumed.

When the laughter finally died out Diana spoke up.

"So how did you guys defeat the big bad?" she asked curiously.

"Well, we appeared at his headquarters…" Tomoyo began, "Xiaolang, Nivaline, Sakura and Meiling all used magic against him and that seemed to have some effect. I ended up kicking a coffee table at him that sent him flying backwards but he kinda got annoyed and sent this 'ball of death, destruction and doom' at me but then Sakura shot him with this arrow…"

"Wait!" Sakura frowned breaking in, "I never fired any arrow, I thought it was Meiling."

Meiling stared at Nivaline.

"I thought it was you!" she exclaimed incredulously.

"It wasn't me!" Nivaline protested, "It's probably Xiaolang."

"No," Sakura shook her head, "I was beside him the whole time, he didn't fire any arrows."

Tomoyo's eyes widened as she realised what this meant. And judging by everyone's shocked and pale faces they had come to the same conclusion.

"Who fired it?" she asked aloud, giving voice to everyone's unspoken question, "Who fired that arrow?"

* * *

The doctor glanced down at his patient.

"What's her status?" he asked.

"Unconscious… bruises, cuts, minor internal bleeding," the nurse recited glancing down at the woman's medical chart, "Has symptoms of over-fatigue… malnutrition…"

"Anorexia?" the doctor suggested still studying the beautiful blonde-haired woman lying in the hospital bed, her skin as pale as the white sheets she laid on.

The nurse shook her head.

"More like she's been running a marathon or something," the nurse corrected, "It seems she just used up all her energy and then some."

"Okay, give her an IV drip and we'll see what happens," the doctor commanded.

The nurse nodded and hurried off to do his bidding as the doctor made a note on the woman's chart before turning around and walking away.

Looking deceptively fragile and weakened, Lara Williams lay prone in the hospital bed, her body slowly recovering.

And when she woke up, there'll be hell to pay.

Hell hath no fury like a rogue Angel defeated.

* * *

The morning sun beat down on the expensive silver Porsche as Sakura fidgeted anxiously worried almost out of her mind.

"Are you sure you're going to fine?" Sakura asked for possibly the millionth time.

Xiaolang and the occupants of his car all sighed.

"Yes!" Chelsea replied out of patience, "We're going to fine. Concentrate on your mission, for god's sakes!"

"She's right you know," Xiaolang said gravely, "Be careful out there."

Sakura laughed somewhat nervously not knowing how to act around him especially after that… incident. Zachary and Chelsea exchanged pointed looks as they noted Sakura's discomfort.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," she stammered, "Are you sure you can contact Syaoran?"

Xiaolang nodded.

After realising that with their headquarters trashed and the speaker box destroyed thanks to Lara and Sakura's 'little' smackdown they had no way of contacting Syaoran. After several minutes of panicking, Xiaolang (who had woken up by then) informed them that he could tell Syaoran and also get him to start fixing up the headquarters. In response, the three Angels had sighed a huge collective sigh of relief before planning their mission to Taiwan to retrieve the mirror.

"Take care," Sakura told all of them as Xiaolang beamed at her.

"You too," he said sincerely as a faint blush appeared on Sakura's cheeks.

He climbed into the car and started up the engine as Sakura turned to look at her two friends.

"As soon as we lay the smackdown on Spinnel Corporation we'll have you back in no time," Sakura gave them a roguish wink, "Don't worry it won't be long before they're behind bars."

"Just be careful okay?" Zachary warned her.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I should be telling you that."

"We'll see each other again," Chelsea said gazing up at her friend, "Soon."

"I promise," Sakura replied sending her a quick smile.

Xiaolang started up the engine and the car peeled away from the side of the curb as Sakura sighed.

"I hope," she whispered to herself.

With that she turned around and trudged back into Tomoyo's house.

"Okay, I've got the tickets," Tomoyo looked up from her laptop, which was resting on her coffee table.

"What time?" Meiling asked.

"Seven o'clock tonight," Tomoyo informed them, "Which means we better get some sleep."

Stifling a yawn, Meiling had to agree.

"What time is it?" she asked.

It was Marcus who replied.

"Five o'clock in the morning," he said smiling at Meiling.

Meiling nodded returning the grin as Sakura strolled through the front door.

"Are they okay?" she asked, concerned.

Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, I saw them off. They're fine," Sakura sighed, "Hopefully Xiaolang's got a secure location for them to lay low for a while."

"Speaking of Xiaolang," Meiling had a wicked grin on her face.

=Finally some payback!= her mind crowed remembering all the time Sakura had given her grief about Marcus.

"What?" Sakura asked self-consciously.

"Oh, come on even I can notice that he has a… thing for you," Meiling smirked.

Sakura flushed.

"Him… me? No! A world of no!" she protested.

Tomoyo was trying to hide her smile but was failing miserably as Meiling's eyes began dancing with mirth.

"Sakura and Xiaolang… sitting in a tree…" Meiling called out in a singsong voice.

Sakura's face took on fifty different shades of pink and red as Tomoyo howled with laughter.

"K… I… S…" Tomoyo joined in singing along with Meiling.

"OKAY!" Sakura yelled, "TRUCE! I don't tease you, you don't tease me!"

Meiling thought for a while.

"Deal!" she said sticking out her arm.

Sakura shook it as Tomoyo smirked.

"Oh well, I don't think that truce applies to me," she sniggered.

Sakura glared at her as Tomoyo gave her an angelic smile back.

"Blue-haired man," Meiling muttered remembering Lily's comment from what seemed like a long time ago.

Tomoyo glared at her as Sakura looked on curiously wondering what Meiling had said.

"Okay," Tomoyo cut in hurriedly before Sakura could ask, "Bedtime!"

"Yes, mother," Sakura drawled.

Tomoyo hurriedly walked into her own bedroom as Sakura stared at Meiling.

"What did you say to her?"

Meiling smiled at her mysteriously.

"You just have to find out."

With that she cruised out of the room as Sakura frowned in confusion.

"Did I miss something?" she wondered aloud.

With a shrug, Sakura walked into her own room.

* * *

Alicia Ruben groaned as she limped back into her apartment and stared at the mess it was in.

"Who that hell was that?" she growled as she collapsed into one of her expensive leather couches.

It had hurt a hell of a lot falling down five storeys but she had survived… just.

"Ah, the marvels of science and genetic engineering," she mused as she reached for her cordless phone.

She punched in a series of numbers and as soon as she got through she commanded the person on the end in a clipped tone to patch her through to Lilia Faren.

"Ms. Faren?" she asked, the politeness in her voice seeming more menacing than comforting, "We have a problem."

* * *

"MOMMY!'

Meiling groaned as the mattress beneath her began to bounce and quiver rapidly, with a muttered curse she forced her eyes open and glared at Lily who was jumping up and down on her bed with considerable enthusiasm.

"Lily," she begged, "Please stop that."

Lily instantly stopped, a sign of Marcus's wonderful parenting.

"What time is it?" Meiling asked stifling a yawn as she forced herself to sit up.

"Ten o'clock," Lily chirped.

Meiling groaned. She had managed to get five hours of sleep but considering what she had been put through the day before…

"Lily, please Aunt Meil…"

"Mommy," Lily corrected with an impish grin.

Meiling was too tired to have the freak-out she normally would have had if she had been told that Lily was calling her mommy now. Wanting to get some extra sleep, Meiling would have agreed to being called 'moron' if it meant she would have some rest.

"Okay, Mommy needs rest," she finished.

Before Lily could reply Meiling's door swung open to reveal Marcus who looked eerily alert for someone who had stayed up for as many hours as she had. Granted, he didn't do battle with the uber-evil of all time but still…

"Lily," Marcus said warningly, "What did I say…"

"You told me don't disturb Mommy," Lily recited with a small pout.

Marcus gave her a look as Lily gave a very adult sigh.

"I'm sorry," she said obviously not meaning it.

"Lily," Marcus's voice became more dangerous.

Meiling watched as Lily seemed to understand her father was being serious.

"I didn't mean to," Lily whispered ashamedly.

"Didn't mean to?" Marcus's voice hadn't gotten any louder but it was obvious that he was scolding his daughter.

Lily remained quiet as Marcus sighed and opened his mouth to speak.

"She wouldn't do it again!" Meiling cut in not wanting to see Lily upset, "She knows she's been naughty."

Marcus shot her a look as Meiling shrugged in response. Lily beamed at her rescuer as her father sighed.

"Fine," he looked at Lily, "But if you don't listen to me when I tell you to do something…"

Lily gulped and shook her head, vehemently denying the idea that she'll do it again. Marcus sighed knowing full well she'll do it again.

"Go to your Aunt Sakura," Marcus instructed smiling at Lily, his love for her obvious to Meiling, "She's awake and you can go play with her."

Practically ecstatic at the idea, Lily bounded out of the room but not before hugging Meiling.

"Thanks," she whispered.

Meiling smiled as Lily leapt off the bed and ran to the door.

"Don't I get a hug?" Marcus asked pretending to hurt.

Lily leapt in her father's arm and hugged his neck tightly before jumping down and racing out into the hallway as Marcus shook his head.

"Softy," he teased.

"Hey!" Meiling protested, pretending to be insulted, "I can't help it!"

"Oh god," Marcus groaned, "She's got you wrapped around her little finger."

Meiling blushed as she stammered something under her breath, not knowing how to react to that statement. Marcus laughed.

"Well, I guess I should leave you to sleep," he turned to leave.

"No," Meiling surprised even herself at the firmness in her voice.

Marcus slowly turned around, unsure of where this was going.

"Stay?" it seemed almost a question rather than a command, "Please?"

A brilliant smile suffused Marcus's face as he nodded and with agonising slowness walked to the bed. Gingerly sitting down on the edge of mattress, he leaned forwards and wrapped his arms around Meiling bringing her tightly against his body.

"I love you," he said simply.

Meiling smiled as she leaned up to kiss him.

"Me too," she said softly.

She pulled Marcus down onto bed as their lips met once more.

* * *

Sakura shot a wondering look at Meiling's close door wondering what was taking Marcus so long to get out. Lily was sitting at the kitchen counter beside her happily munching down on her bowl of cereal oblivious to the fact that her father was still in Meiling's room.

A wicked grin spread across Sakura's face as she realised what_ might _be going on.

"So, Taiwan," Diana said slowly from her position at Tomoyo's stove.

Bacon sizzled nosily in the frypan as Diana moved them around vigorously, her attention half-focused on her friend.

"You know for once I would like to go one of those places for a vacation rather than a dangerous mission," Sakura remarked idly taking a sip from her glass of orange juice, "Great locations but the whole 'I-maybe-killed' thing really puts on damper on things."

"Putting it mildly," Diana noted dryly.

Sakura shrugged as Diana turned off the gas and turned to Sakura.

"Bacon?" she asked.

"Thanks," Sakura nodded as Diana slid some onto a plate and handed it to her.

"So how are your missions usually?" she asked curiously sitting down on the other side of the counter.

Sakura sighed as she speared a piece of bacon with her fork.

"Usually we deal with your good old fashioned crime lords/mob leaders/drug dealers/terrorists but now with the whole magic angle," Sakura popped the piece of bacon in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully, "We could be dealing with the Loch Ness Monster for all we know!"

Diana smiled impishly at her friend.

"On the bright side sure the hell beats dealing with Belinda on a bad hair day!"

Sakura laughed.

"Do you remember her expression at the reunion when Dan called her a cow?" Sakura giggled.

Diana burst into laughter.

"Oh that was priceless!" she chortled, "And remember back at high school, that time she…"

The kitchen was filled with joyous laughter as the two friends continued to reminisce about a time when their greatest danger was dealing with the cheerleading Harpies and not dealing with the awesome might of Spinnel Corporation.

* * *

Tomoyo woke up in a dark place, looking around at her bleak shadowy surroundings she realised where she was and sighed.

"God damn it," she moaned, "Yue! This better not be more cryptic clues cause I'm sick of them!"

Her voice echoed through the darkness as Tomoyo waited, crossing her arms as she tapped her feet impatiently.

"Thump, thump, thump."

The sound of her feet tapping against the hard ground resounded through the shadows as Tomoyo growled under her breath wondering what mystical message Yue had for her now.

'Thump, thump, thump."

She continued tapping her feet as she sighed and wondered how long this was going to take.

"Thump, thump, thump, THUMP!"

Tomoyo jumped as a sound larger than any she had created roared through the air, rending through the darkness.

"THUMP! THUMP!"

Whatever it was it was getting closer as Tomoyo tensed, staring into the darkness in vain trying to see what was coming.

"THUMP! THUMP! THUMP…"

As quickly as it had appeared the sound died not leaving behind an eerie silence. The stillness freaked Tomoyo out more than the sound had, every single instinct in her body screamed at her telling her to run for her life.

"THUMP!'

A final thump shattered the silence as Tomoyo jumped, her heart hammering against her chest as she looked around desperately trying to figure out where the noise was going from.

"Fox…" 

Her heart tried to break free of her chest again as Tomoyo whirled around. A hooded figure appeared before her, wearing a long flowing cloak that shimmered with every imaginable shade of purple starting from the lightest shade of lavender possible to the velvety black-purple of the night sky. It made Tomoyo dizzy just to look at it as the figure continued to glide towards her, the fabric of the cloak moved causing the colours to shift and shimmer like light refracting off a fast flowing river of purple water.

The figure's face was obscured by the darkest of shadows as Tomoyo shivered looking into the darkness and realising that this figure couldn't possibly be human.

"Fox…" 

"Who… what are you?" Tomoyo whispered.

"I am the Shadow card, a Clow card," the figure said simply, its voice a mere faint hiss, "I've come to warn you and remind you."

"Of what?"

The Shadow card remained silent for a few minutes before speaking up again.

"Two terrible guardians will stand in their way, one shall be drawn from the Wielder,

drawn from the past sands of time," The Shadow recited.

Tomoyo gasped remembering it was what Yue had told them in London.

"What does it mean?" Tomoyo whispered.

"The mirror is guarded," the Shadow hissed, "By a terrible guardian, terrible because not only is she strong and powerful but she is…"

"She is what?"  
"You."

"What?!?" Tomoyo gasped, "How…"

Her eyes widened as purple light burst from the Shadow's card cloak and washed over her, through the brightness of the light Tomoyo could still see the dark oval that made up the card's face it seemed to become bigger and bigger in her vision as she fell to her knees.

Her mouth opened in a silent scream as images flashed in her head.

A pair of amethyst eyes glowing with fury and malice… a gleaming trident … an veritable army of snarling monsters, each of them taloned and fanged… blood… so much blood… an ancient temple made from dark stones and rotting wood… blood oozing from its walls… blood… it was everywhere… a river… rushing towards her… covering her… it was everywhere… in her mouth… her nose… choking… drowning… blood… she was drowning in blood!

"ARRRRRRGHHHH!!!" Tomoyo screamed as she sat up hurriedly tangling herself in her bed sheets.

She looked around, terrified but slowly relaxed as she realised she was in the safety of her own room. She shivered as she hugged herself tightly trying to forget the coppery taste of blood in her mouth… trying to forget the warm crimson liquid splashing against her skin…

"TOMOYO?!?"

The door flung open revealing a concerned Sakura and Diana. They stared at the ashen-faced Japanese Angel as she stared back at them, her eyes wide with fear.

"Tomoyo… are you okay?" Sakura asked cautiously.

"No…" Tomoyo whispered, "It's not okay."

* * *

Meiling had a decidedly smug look on her face as she settled into her seat. Sakura and Tomoyo exchanged amused looks. The look had been on her face when she had emerged from her bedroom with Marcus, the two of them still in lovey-dovey mode, and it had remained intact throughout their drive to the airport and boarding the plane.

"Oh god, if your afterglow was anymore thicker I would've need sunglasses," Sakura muttered.

Even that wasn't enough to spoil Meiling's good mood as Sakura and Tomoyo shared surprised looks.

"He must have been good," Tomoyo noted.

Sakura nodded.

"Damn good."

That caused Meiling to snap out of her happy mode and shoot a death glare at them as her fellow Angels cracked up laughing.

With a jolt, the airplane took off and they were on their way to the find the third talisman.

* * *

Nivaline seemed to be almost gliding through the air as she elegantly entered through the door of L.A. hospital's Intensive Care Unit, ignoring the various other patients lying inside the ward she spotted the person she had come here to see. Nivaline hurriedly walked over to the bed and smiled down at the injured woman lying between its sheets.

"How are you?" she asked softly.

"Felt like I've gotten the crap beaten out of me," Kiyone moaned back obviously still in pain, "You?"

Nivaline shrugged.

"Can't complain," she said with an impish grin.

"Where are the girls?" Kiyone asked slowly trying to sit up but stopped as pain roared through her body.

Nivaline placed a gentle hand on Kiyone keeping her down as she opened her mouth to reply.

"They figured the location for the third talisman and are currently heading there right now," Nivaline explained.

"Think they can do it?" Kiyone asked concerned, "I mean isn't it supposed to be guarded and all?"

Nivaline nodded gravely.

"Trust me, I think there's nothing those girls can't do."

Kiyone shrugged.

"Here's hoping."

Nivaline regally nodded her head.

"Here's hoping," she agreed.

* * *

"Psuedo-Me better not appear again," Sakura groaned as they stepped through the gate and into Taipei International Airport.

Meiling snorted.

"Here's hoping," Meiling rolled her eyes, knowing full well that Yue would probably sic her on them not matter how many times they wished he wouldn't.

"So where now?" Tomoyo asked glancing around the crowded airport.

"We head for Sun Moon Lake and hope something comes up," Sakura explained optimistically.

Tomoyo smiled weakly, she hadn't told her friends about her dream/nightmare not knowing for sure if it was really a message from the cards or just her imagination going wild.

=No point in freaking them out for no reason= she rationalised.

They strolled out of the airport only carrying backpacks filled with spare clothes and some of Tomoyo's high-tech gear. Flagging a taxi, the girls piled in as Sakura gave the driver instructions in mandarin.

The driver nodded and pulled out of the airport taxi stop entering the stream of cars that slowly meandered its way towards Taiwan's busy freeways.

Glancing at the traffic, Meiling sighed.

It was going to be a long, long ride.

"How about a little sing-a-long?" Sakura grinned impishly sending a subtle smirk at Meiling knowing full well this would grind on her nerves, "Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall…"

Meiling resisted the urge to strangle her friend to death.

This was going to be a long, long, long ride.

"Ninety-eight bottles of beer…" Sakura continued to warble deliberately singing horribly off-key.

Meiling growled.

And it had just gotten a hell of a lot longer.

* * *

Ninety-six bottles of beer later, they finally pulled up in front of the one of many hotels that ringed the shores of Sun Moon lake.

In her eagerness to get out of the taxi, Meiling had jumped out even before it had properly stopped. Sakura smirked as she handed the taxi fare to the driver with a decent tip as Tomoyo gracefully exited the car. Grabbing her bag, Sakura got out of the taxi and stood with her two friends behind her the taxi drove away as the three Angels admired their new surroundings.

"It's beautiful," Meiling whispered awe admiring the way the afternoon sun sparkled off the pristine waters of the lake, the tiny ripples in the water refracting the light creating a kaleidoscope of colours.

Sakura nodded in agreement as Tomoyo remained silent remembering her dream and the creepy visions that had accompanied it.

"Blood," she whispered shivering remembering the feeling of drowning in a river of blood.

"'Moyo?" Sakura's concerned voice broke into her thoughts, "You okay?"

Obviously distracted, Tomoyo nodded as she continued to stare unseeingly at the lake's surface. Unnoticed, Sakura and Meiling exchanged worried glances.

"Tomoyo, what's wrong?" Meiling asked with a small frown on her face, "Why are you zoning out on us?"

Tomoyo remained silent as she looked at the mountains that formed a backdrop for the Sun Moon Lake. Somehow the lush emerald landforms seemed ominous rather than beautiful and inviting.

Tomoyo shivered again.

"Something's here," she whispered to herself, "And it's waiting for us."

* * *

_Taiwan, 1644_

It was a turbulent time to be in the island of Taiwan, China's Ming dynasty had been shattered and overthrown by the emerging Qing dynasty but that did not stop a band of loyal Ming followers to advance across the seas to the beautiful island nation and try to claim it for the glory of their almost-dead dynasty. The Dutch that controlled Taiwan tried to fight off the new invaders but the Chinese forces were slowly winning particularly in the P'enghu Islands.

"DIE!" a beautiful smoky-grey haired woman roared in fury as she leapt at the hapless Dutch troops.

They fired at her with their rifles and although the bullets ripped through the beautiful woman's flesh she ploughed on through the barrage of ammunition. The troops screamed in terror as her face began shifting, from the smooth beautiful face of a tempting woman to the façade of a demon. Burning amethyst eyes tinged with blood red, glared at them as her mouth curled back cruelly to reveal a mouth brimming with long yellow aged fangs. Her fingernails became wicked talons as she opened her mouth and screeched, a high-pitch shrill ripped through the air and into the men's ears bringing them down onto the knees as they writhed in agony trying to block out the strident scream.

"DIE!" the demonic woman screamed as she lunged at them.

A long gleaming trident punched through the air and bit into the first man's chest unleashing a gushing river of blood. Overhead the sky was dark with nary a star in sight, an ominous signpost for the evil taking place beneath the sinister heavens. Another man fell as the woman reached forwards and broke his neck with a flick of her wrist, possessing infinite power she flung a man through the air shattering his body against a hard stonewall. She tore through the squadron of troops with dangerous ease when the last body fell to the ground, she roared with pleasure and sank her fangs into the dead man's neck gulping away at the oozing blood.

"Tamaya!" a voice cried.

The woman whirled around snarling in rage, she stared at the man who stood before her.

"Who the hell are you?" she roared.

"I am Yue," the man said calmly.

Tamaya was forced backwards as brighter light, purer that anything she had ever seen before spilled out from the man's pristine white clothes. Two almost translucent feathered wings burst from his back as he held out his hands, something clutched in them.

She could just make up a mirror with a smooth shiny surface glimmering like a calm lake's surface exposed to the sun's rays. Silver wrought into intricate shapes of snarling mythical creatures edged the pane of circular glass, the metal seemingly glowing with an internal light.

"You don't belong here," Yue said calmly.

"Who the hell are you?" Tamaya snarled, her feet slowly moving apart betraying her next move.

Yue watched coolly as Tamaya lunged at him.

"Time!" Yue whispered holding out his hands.

A bright flash of vivid yellow-green light flooded the area as Tamaya froze in midair. She tried to move, to roar in rage but she couldn't move a single muscle. Her amethyst eyes, the only part of her able to move glared at the angelic man standing before her with murderous rage.

"Tamaya Hiragizawa!" Yue thundered, his voice filled with dangerous power. Overhead the sky roared and wept as wind whistled through the area swirling around the frozen demonic woman.

"I banish you from this world," Yue continued, his voice getting louder with each word he spoke, "AND INTO THIS MIRROR!"

He held up the mirror and Tamaya's eyes widened in shock. A beam of pure white light laced with a tint of light blue burst from the mirror and struck her body. Tamaya had no time to react as her body convulsed wildly as crackling skeins of blue and white energy cocooned her body and yanked her with indescribable force towards the mirror.

With a final ominous crackle of energy, the light and Tamaya were sucked into the mirror. Yue smirked as the mirror gave one final throb of light before the energy died away completely. He peered into the mirror's surface and watched calmly as Tamaya's face appeared. She snarled at him but could do nothing as grey smoke raced across the clear surface of the mirror obscuring her face before the glass became completely opaque.

"A terrible guardian," Yue murmured to himself, satisfied, "Has been find."

With a flap of his wing, he leapt into the air before turning into a blazing comet of white light that shot up and disappeared into the dark night's sky.

In the forested hills surrounding Sun Moon Lake, Yue landed the mirror still clutched in his left hand.

"Arise from the earth!" Yue cried suddenly holding up his right hand at a seemingly tranquil clearing in the forest.

With no warning at tall, the ground rumbled fiercely as birds sleeping in the trees, awoke. Startled into the flight, they leapt into the cool night sky screeching in terror as they flapped towards safety.

Ignoring them, Yue concentrated as a beam of blue light pulsed from his hand and struck the ground. The damp moss-covered ground cracked open forming a dark fissure as the earth bulged upwards.

Slowly a stone covered roof poked out from the trembling ground as Yue focused harder. Following the roof four immense stonewalls covered with elaborate carvings rose from the earth, with a final shudder the earth became still as Yue cocked his head to the side studying the ancient temple that had just burst from the ground.

With a flick of his hand, two imposing doors set into one of the walls flung open revealing the gaping darkness within. Walking up to the temple, Yue climbed up a short flight of uneven stairs before passing a series of tall columns that were sunk into the stone platform the temple rested on as though they were silent sentinels guarding Yue's hidden secret.

He strolled into the darkness of the temple as Yue held up his free hand. A glowing blue crystal appeared as he held up his hand, bright light burst from the crystal illuminating the temple and chasing the darkness away. He walked up along a long strip of frayed crimson carpet that led up to a stone pedestal centred in the middle of the temple. Two points of silver glimmered under the glare of his crystal as Yue stopped in front of the stone plinth, set into the stone were two holders wrought from silver into the shape of two taloned eagle claws. With great care, he lowered the mirror into the holder.

With a loud clank, the claws closed clutching the edge of the mirror tightly as Yue smiled.

"It is done."

With that he whirled around and walked out of the temple. Ten seconds later, the temple sank beneath the earth again burying the mirror along with it… burying the third talisman along with it.

* * *

_Present day _

"So we have no idea where it is," Sakura sighed, "It's just one problem after another isn't it? God, I hate Yue!"

Sitting inside Tomoyo's hotel room, the three Angels or rather Meiling and Sakura since Tomoyo was lost in her own thoughts were lamenting the fact that they had no further clue about where the mirror actually was.

Meiling shrugged.

"What are you going to do about it?" she asked, "The way I see it if Yue wants us to know something he'll beam a dream-message to us."

Sakura laughed as Tomoyo remained silent.

"That's true," she shot a sidelong glance at Tomoyo.

"You okay?"

Tomoyo nodded wordlessly as Meiling yawned loudly.

"I don't know about you but I'm tired," she stifled another yawn as she glanced sleepily at her friends, "Bed?"

Sakura nodded.

"Sounds good," she leapt nimbly off the bed she had been sitting on and made her way to the door as Meiling got up as well and followed her.

"Goodnight Tomoyo," she said cheerfully before leaving the room and heading off to her own.

Meiling smiled at Tomoyo.

"Sweet dreams," she chirped before disappearing out into the hallway.

Tomoyo stared at the closed door and sighed.

"I wish."

* * *

Yue appeared in front of her.

"Wonderful," Tomoyo sighed, "Another dream-message. Can we please the skip the river-of-blood thingy? Cause that thing comes with smell and feel-o-vision and that's just plain creepy."

"Always with the jokes," Yue commented raising an eyebrow, "Okay we'll skip the blood and move onto the important thing. I'm here to show you the location of the mirror."

"Great," Tomoyo beamed at the moon angel, "Where is it?"

"Here."

Tomoyo had no time to react as Yue's arm shot across the short distance between them and touched her forehead. A ball of white light burst from the palm of his hand and sank into her skin like water soaking into the sands on a beach. Tomoyo's head was flung backwards as white light burst from her eyes and open mouth.

"AWAKE!" Yue roared.

* * *

Sakura shot up in bed as a strange noise filtered through her door. Glancing around in the darkness in confusion, it took her several seconds to realise she was in a hotel in Taiwan. Stifling a yawn, Sakura concentrated and realised the strange noise was actually someone knocking at the door.

"What the?" she blinked blearily before slowly getting out of her bed.

Cautiously she approached the door not knowing who was on the other side. She grabbed the doorknob and slowly twisted it open.

With a loud cry she flung the door open trying to startle whoever was on the other side as her whole body jumped into to a fighter's stance ready to take on any perceived threat.

She froze.

"Tomoyo?" she asked.

Her fellow Angel merely stared at her as the dim lights in the hallway glanced off her eyes exposing opaque silver ovals deprived of any irises or pupils. The hair on the back of her neck rose as Sakura felt the invisible waves of energy rolling off her friend's body.

"Tomoyo?" she whispered cautiously stepping out into the hallway.

Tomoyo merely held out her left hand and made a small 'follow-me' motion, it was only then did Sakura realised that Meiling was standing behind the Japanese Angel.

"What's going on?" she asked shooting a worried frown at Tomoyo as she directed her question at Meiling.

Thankfully Meiling seemed to be impervious to whatever had affected Tomoyo.

"Don't know," Meiling replied with a shrug, "I woke up when she knocked on my door and I followed her here."

Tomoyo ignored their conversation and turned around slowly before walking away at a quick pace. Meiling and Sakura exchanged confused frowns as they jogged after their friend.

"Tomoyo," Meiling tried to rouse her friend from her strange state, "Tomoyo! Yo! Wake up!"

Tomoyo ignored her friends' attempts to wake her up as she walked straight out of the hotel door ignoring the woman manning the reception desk.

"Going for a night walk?" the woman asked with a friendly smile, "The lake is really beautiful under the moon's light."

"Thanks," Sakura shot her a fake smile as she followed Tomoyo out the door and into the cool night air.

As though she was sleepwalking Tomoyo seemed oblivious to everything around her as she walked straight along the edge of the lake and headed towards the densely wooded hills. Still wondering what was wrong her, Sakura and Meiling followed her at a short distance as Tomoyo weaved her way through the trees. Although they had no idea where they were going thanks to the dark, the girls had a distinct feeling they were moving uphill.

"Are we moving up or is it just me?" Sakura asked as she stumbled over an exposed tree root.

"We are," Meiling confirmed as she kept a careful eye on Tomoyo.

Tomoyo stopped as the two other Angels froze.

"OPEN!" she yelled suddenly.

Meiling and Sakura leaned over to their left and right respectively so they could peer around their friend's body and see who she was talking to. Sakura frowned.

"Why is she talking to a cliff face?" she asked.

Meiling snorted.

"As if I knew."

Before they could say another word, a bright flash of silver light flooded the woods. Sakura and Meiling both gasped in surprise as Tomoyo stood watching the steep rocky surface of the cliff patiently.

As the three Angels looked on, two in shock, the other with unnatural calmness, lines of glittering silver appeared on the rock's surface. Shielding their eyes from the intense glow, Sakura and Meiling could just see past the glare of the lustrous light and realised the glowing lines were forming a rectangle across the surface of the rock. Slowly the light died down as plumes of smoke drifted into the air as though the lines had been scorched into the stone.

Silence descended onto the clearing as the two Angels froze wondering what was happening.

"Is something supposed to happen now?" Meiling asked to no one in particular.

Before Sakura could reply a strange sound ripped through the air, a huge crack zigzagged across the surface of the cliff starting from the ground and shooting up the rocky façade until it reached one of the scorched lines etched into the rock. A pulse of silver light burst from the lines again as part of the cliff shattered creating a perfect gaping rectangular hole in the rock.

"Whoa," Sakura gasped.

Ignoring her friend, Tomoyo walked straight through the mysterious doorway in the rock and disappeared through into the darkness. Exchanging looks, Sakura and Meiling followed.

It appeared to be an immense natural cavern of some sort, its contents shrouded by shadows. Sakura and Meiling's footsteps echoed through the cave as Tomoyo stopped again.

"Illuminate!" she barked.

"Foom! Foom! Foom!"

Meiling and Sakura jumped as silver flames burst into being piercing the darkness before dissolving into normal cheery yellow flames that chase away the shadows. Sakura glanced around and noticed the light came from ancient looking torches embedded into the smooth rocky walls, with the appearance of light she could see the cave was circular with stalactite and stalagmites growing from the ceiling and floor like the rocky fangs of a monolithic monster.

"Sakura," Meiling whispered pointing at something.

The American Angel followed her friend's finger and started when she realised there were four stone tablets carved from ancient granite set into cave's round walls. Tiny symbols were etched into the stone.

"Can you make out what they say?" Meiling asked knowing that Sakura was the linguistic expert out of all of them.

"Not from here but I'll get up closer," Sakura replied as she walked towards the tablets.

She cautiously walked up to Tomoyo and when her possessed friends didn't move Sakura walked around her and headed towards the wall. Once close up, she could make out the carvings.

"It's an ancient form of mandarin," Sakura said aloud as she studied the tablets, "This one says…"

Swiftly she translated it and gasped once she realised what it said.

"Oh my god," she whispered.

"What? What is it?"

"Three Angels descended from the heavens shall come in the new age, one shall be a fighter, the other a flower, the third a fox, cunning and watchful. They shall possess the three: one the sun and the key, another the earth and the sword, the third the moon and the mirror. Only they can stop the shadow book, for if it is opened then shadows will engulf the world, all hope, dreams and love will vanish devoured by darkness and evil shall reign for all eternity," Sakura read slowly she turned around and stared at Meiling, "It's the prophecy."

Meiling's eyes widened in shock as Sakura moved onto the next tablet.

"And here, the riddle that Yue told us in London," Sakura whispered half to herself, "Two terrible guardians will stand in their way, one shall be drawn from the Wielder, drawn from the past sands of time. The second guardian, an ancient spirit, the mountains are her realm and winter is her weapon."

"What is this place?" Meiling murmured awed.

"It's like all of Clow Reed's prophecies are here," Sakura muttered as she turned to the tablet next to the one she had just read.

"Hang on," she frowned, "This is a new one. I haven't heard this one before."

"What is it?" Meiling demanded.

Sakura cocked her head to the side as she slowly read the tablet.

_'The one shall split into two and the two shall never know each other. When the darkness comes, they shall be made whole and their remaking shall turn the tide.'_

Sakura stared at her friend.

"What the hell does that mean?" Meiling demanded as Tomoyo remained silent watching their puzzlement with her silver eyes.

Sakura shrugged as she turned back to the tablets and moved to the fourth one.

"And this one," she stared at it, "This one is blank."

Silence followed at the heels of Sakura's comment as Meiling stared at the final tablet in shock.

Why was it blank? And what did the latest prophecy mean?

Her questions flew straight out of her head as Tomoyo moved again.

"Tomoyo?" she asked gently.

Her friend ignored her as she held out her hand.

"REVEAL!" she bellowed power roaring through each syllable of the word.

Sakura jumped as a smaller boulder burst from the centre of the cave. Silver light blazed across the boulder's surface as lines of light emblazoned itself onto the rock. The light died out quickly as Sakura stared at the boulder, which was smoking as though it had just been blasted by flames.

Meiling was shocked into silence as Sakura knelt down gingerly and touched the boulder but immediately winced feeling the heat emanating from the rock. Yanking her hand away, Sakura peered at the now black lines carved into the stone. She frowned as she recognised the symbols.

"It's written in the same language as the tablets," Sakura announced, "It reads…"

She mentally translated the short sentence with ease and gasped as she realised what it meant.

"Sakura?" Meiling asked concerned at what her friend's gasp meant.

"Place the sword here," Sakura read as she stood up and faced her friend, "It will show you the way."

Meiling blinked at her as something clicked in her mind.

"Ruby Moon told me that the sword was pivotal in finding the third talisman!" she cried, "So that's what she meant!"

"Well hurry up already," Sakura urged getting caught up in the excitement.

"Right," Meiling took a deep breath as she gripped the butterfly bracelet strapped around her wrist and concentrated.

"Blade of Clow,

Power of magic,

Power of light,

Reveal the sword,

The force ignite!

Release!"

With a bright flash of ruby red light, the sword manifested itself as Meiling gripped it fearlessly and walked past Tomoyo who stood still staring straight ahead seemingly unaware or uncaring of what was going on. Meiling walked up to the rock as Sakura examined it.

"There," Sakura pointed, "There appears to be some kind of slot or something there. Trying shoving the blade into that."

Meiling nodded as she took a deep breath and held the sword up into the air. With a fierce cry, she jabbed down.

"CLANG!"

Metal hit stone as the sword slid smoothly into the slot. Meiling and Sakura let out twin gasps of surprise as stone blazed silver again, the ruby gem embedded into the sword's cross-hilt unleashed its own wave of red light as the two fused together to form a bizarre shade of greyish-purple.

The gem blazed with light as with no warning a beam of silver and red energy twined together blasted off through the entrance of the cave.

Both Angels stared at each other, their eyes wide with shock.

"What the…" Sakura began.

"Hell?!?" Meiling gasped.

"BOOM!"

The beam seemed to have struck something in the forest as a massive rumble rocked the area. Birds were startled into the flight as animals fled to safety; the girls almost lost their balance as the ground shook again.

"THERE!" Sakura pointed.

Meiling stared in stunned silence as a beam of silver and red energy lunged into the sky forming a solid column of light. With a huge flash of bright light it exploded into a wide funnel of multicoloured light waves splashed against the night sky.

Sakura and Meiling stared at the light show, which was beginning to look like an aurora weaving its way delicately up into the night sky as unnoticed by them, Tomoyo blinked her eyes returning back to the normal.

She looked around in confusion.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud.

Sakura and Meiling whirled around.

"Tomoyo?" Sakura asked softly, a concerned look on her face.

Tomoyo stared at her.

"What's going on?" she demanded, "Where am I?"

"Hey, we followed you here," Meiling retorted.

Tomoyo froze for a few seconds as she remembered Yue's latest dream visit.

"Yue!" she hissed, "I'm going to kill him!"

She sighed and calmed down.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You came here, we followed you and then you created this cave. There are tablets on the walls with the prophecies etched into them and then you caused this boulder to appear with symbols on it," Meiling gestured towards the still glowing stone with the sword shoved through it, "Sakura translated the symbols on the stone and it told us that if the sword was placed in the stone it would reveal the location of the third talisman…"

She pointed to the spectacular ribbons of rainbow-coloured light twisted through the air.

"And voila," she finished.

Tomoyo stared at the waves of light emanating up into the air.

"Where is that?" she asked.

"Don't know but we're going to find out," Sakura turned to leave, "We got to get there quick before anyone else notices."

"Wait," Meiling turned back to the stone, "I need my sword."

As if on cue, the stone and sword stopped glowing but the aurora lights exposing the location of the talisman remained in the air glowing with mesmerising beauty and serene grace. Meiling cautiously pulled the sword out and when it was clear, she nodded to her friends.

"Let's go," she commanded.

The three Angels sprinted through the entrance of the cave and into the woods ignoring the leafy branches that slapped at their bodies and the roots that tried to trip them.

"There!" Tomoyo yelled pointing.

An enchanting fusion of amber, emerald, amethyst, jade and blazing white light filtered through the woody thickets of trees changing their green visage to mere silhouettes. All three Angels ran towards the light as they burst through the woods and ran into a clearing blazing with vibrant multicoloured light. However as soon as the Angels stepped into the light, it dimmed. The spectacular array of lights splashed against the dark canvas of night disappeared without a trace as three girls stared at each other.

"So I'm guessing there should be something here," Meiling said pointing out the obvious.

Sakura and Tomoyo studied the clearing carefully with expert eyes.

"Aside from rocks, dirt, plants and moss," Sakura listed, "Nothing."

"Oh great," Meiling sighed.

"Maybe we're not looking hard enough," Tomoyo suggested, "Maybe it's hidden."

"More 'oh great'," Meiling muttered disgusted.

"Or it could be," Tomoyo glanced up at the sky, "Nope not there so that means…"

She stared at the ground as her teammates followed her gaze.

She was staring at the ground.

"Oh great."

* * *

Lilia Faren gasped in shock.

"Are you sure?" she demanded.

_'No, I'm lying to you,' _Alicia Rueben muttered dryly over the phone.

Lilia rubbed her temples feeling a migraine beginning to come on.

"Great, just great," she muttered, "So you're telling me a woman who was protecting Zachary Yamazaki appeared in your apartment… _magically_… and hurled you out the window."

_'Pretty much,' _Alicia growled over the phone annoyed with Lilia's inability to believe her story.

Lilia blinked.

"Strange," she mused, "Very strange indeed. Okay, I'll get on it and research who this woman is but you still have a job to complete."

_'Okay,'_ Alicia sighed, _'Give me a break. I did fall down five storeys and land on solid pavement.'_

Lilia snorted.

"Project X-15 equipped you well. You will heal from that in no time," Lilia reminded her, "Just get the job done."

With that she hung up as she bit her lip still wondering who Alicia's mysterious attacker was and more worrying why she was protecting Zachary.

=Perhaps a look in his files may help= she mused.

"William," she yelled punching a button on her desk phone, "Bring me Yamazaki's files."

_'I'll get it right now, marm.'_

Lilia nodded as she closed the connection. She allowed a small smile to flit across her lips, she had trained William well and was the perfect secretary for her: always obedient, never questioning her orders and best of all, he was tight-lipped and didn't leak information.

With a sigh, Lilia returned to the stack of paperwork on her desk and quickly signed her scrawling signature across a piece of document before filing it away carefully.

She had to get to the bottom of this mysterious woman or Zachary may just get that promotion.

And there was no way in hell she was going to allow that to happen.

* * *

The three Angels stared at the mossy, slightly damp ground.

"Shovel?" Sakura asked brightly.

"It would take us forever if the mirror is buried here," Tomoyo pointed out, "We need something quicker and something that would not damage whatever we're trying to unearth."

They thought for a few seconds.

"Nope, no ideas," Sakura gave up with a sigh.

Tomoyo also shook her head as a frown of frustration flashed across her face.

"There has to be a way!" she yelled exasperated.

Suddenly Meiling took a step forwards as she flashed a wicked grin at them.

"Where there's a will… there's a way," she winked, "EARTHY CARD!"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Earthy card (it seemed to her that the Clow cards seemed to be enchanted to appear whenever she needed them) before hurling it onto the ground and raising the Clow sword.

"UNEARTH WHATEVER IT IS WE'RE SUPPOSED TO FIND! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

She struck the card with the tip of her sword as emerald light spilled from the suddenly glowing card surface. Tendrils of sparkling light burst forwards and plunged into the earth as the clearing began rumbling.

A dark fissure zigzagged across the grassy copse splitting the earth in two as the girls watched carefully, apprehensive waiting for the Earthy card to finish. The ground suddenly bulged upwards as something tried to push through.

"What is that?" Sakura gasped seeing the extent of the bulging earth, "It's massive!"

With a final flash of emerald light, the ground gave a mighty roar as something punched through the ground. The three girls stared up at the thing that had just emerged.

"What the?" Meiling gasped.

"A temple?!?" Tomoyo began to freak as she remembered her dream.

Sakura stared at the ancient temple in stunned silence as a gentle breeze rustled the few remaining blades of grass in the dark clearing.

"Should we go in?" she whispered.

Meiling shrugged in response as she transformed the Clow sword back into its bracelet form.

"What choice do we have?"

* * *

It was dark within the temple; the air was stale and choking to breathe. Their footsteps echoed through the void as they walked through the decaying threshold, every instinct in their body screaming at them to turn around and run for their lives.

"Big with the creepy," Sakura murmured and she jumped as her voice echoing through the temple its volume amplified by the crumbling walls and ceiling.

Tomoyo's eyes roved around in the darkness suddenly she froze as a small gasp of surprise managed to break free of her throat.

"Tomoyo?" Meiling asked.

Ignoring her friend, Tomoyo walked forwards in a straight line her steps unfaltering and confident as Sakura and Meiling exchanged surprised looks.

"Tomoyo?" Sakura called.

It was as though she was in a trance, her friends' voices sounded as if they were very far away and distorted as she continued towards her destination. And there… there it was… the thing that had captured her attention.

A priceless piece of artefact… it was a perfect oval of pristine glass that age had not ruined and the silver framing the glass was as flawless and unmarred as the day it had been wrought.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, her entire mind seemingly hypnotised by the beauty of the mirror.

And ever so slowly, she reached out with her left hand her finger outstretched trying to feel the mirror to reassure herself that it was here and not some kind of hallucination or illusion.

"Tomoyo…" her friends warningly began but she seemed deafened to their cries.

Gently her finger brushed against the surface of the glass and all hell broke loose.

Sakura and Meiling screamed in pain and surprise as bright silver light flashed through the air, the glare burning their eyes as they blinked furiously trying to clear their vision. They could hear Tomoyo's cry of shock as well as they tried to orientate themselves.

"Finally!" a victorious voice filled with ancient malice and power hissed through the air as Sakura and Meiling stared at each other.

"TOMOYO?!?" they yelled simultaneously running through the darkness towards their friend.

The two Angels skidded to a halt as they stared at the scene spread out before them. Tomoyo was lying prone on the ground as a tall woman with pale ivory skin towered over her smirking at them. Her amethyst eyes pierced the darkness of the temple as she smiled; her lips curling back cruelly to reveal long wicked fangs.

Meiling's eyes widened in shock as she noticed the woman's long flowing smoky grey hair. If those eyes were dulled to become a pale lavender rather that a incandescent amethyst and she was slightly younger…

"Tomoyo," she gasped realising who this mysterious woman looked like.

"I am Tamaya!"

* * *

Nivaline woke up with a start. Confused, she looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings her sleep chloroformed mind taking several seconds to recognise where she was.

She glanced down and saw that Kiyone was sleeping peacefully in her hospital bed. With a sigh, Nivaline stretched wincing in pain as her muscles sore from sitting in the same uncomfortable hard chair all day long as she sat by her friend's beside cried in protest at her movements.

With a frown, she cocked her head to the side as she tried to figure out what had woken her.

She reached out with her powers and gasped as she felt the dark power thrumming through the air. She focused on the energy and tried to discern what it was and where it had come from but it was confusing… she could sense it was powerful and frighteningly so and that it was ancient and fuelled by an unholy wrath and… and…

Nivaline blinked.

A thirst for blood?!?

She gasped realising what it was.

"Nosferatu…"

* * *

Sakura and Meiling gaped at the woman as she glared at them with deadly amethyst eyes.

"Okay what's with the Tomoyo wannabe?" Sakura demanded breaking the silence.

"Silence, pitiful mortal!" the Tomoyo-ish woman roared, "Bow before the all mighty wrath of Tamaya! I have returned to this world and as I once saw it tremble in fear at my terrible rage so shall I see it again."

"Oh great," Sakura sighed, "A Tomoyo wannabe with a superiority complex… great, just great."

"Be silent mortal!" Tamaya roared at them.

Meiling snorted.

"Lady, bite me," she snapped.

Tamaya smirked at them.

"Oh, I will."

She exploded forwards, a whirlwind of claws and lithe muscles but yet always those amethyst eyes would seem to drill in to their minds, reading their ever internal thought… every secret. Her face seemed to warp, shifting into a ghoulish doppelganger of a real humans; a nightmarish landscape of ruts and ridges exposing long gleaming fangs poking out from under her lips as her brow compressed and jutted forwards.

"Was it something I said?" Meiling asked dryly.

They both leapt out of the way as with a feral cry, Tamaya lunged at them raking thin air with her claws. She landed crouched like a dark poisonous frog as Meiling and Sakura backed away in opposite directions watching her wryly.

She lunged to her left heading straight for Sakura as the Angel raised her hand to block her blow. Tamaya swung with her right as Sakura deftly blocked it but let out a sharp gasp of surprise as pain rocketed up her arm.

"CRACK!"

Tamaya's in-to-out crescent kick caught Sakura under the chin popping her up into the air as the American Angel cried out in pain. She landed heavily on the ground gasping for breath as she struggled to her feet.

"Oh my god, this is like the time with Lara," Sakura muttered remembering the last time a simple blow had sent her flying.

"SAKU!" Meiling charged straight for Tamaya as the demonic woman whirled around and hissed at her.

She leapt straight at the Asian Angel as Meiling nimbly ducked her lunge, the woman seemed to glide through the air as she stretched out her arm revealing long lengths of black and violet silky ribbons tied to the sleeves of her outfit. They fluttered around in an invisible breeze as the woman whirled around in mid-air and hit the wall with her feet pushing off as Meiling gasped in surprise.

"CRACK!"

An almost casual kick pushed Meiling to the ground as the woman glided through the air like a dark demonic bat whilst cackling like a hyperactive witch. She landed gracefully as Meiling flipped back onto her feet with a grunt.

"You honestly think you can defeat me?" Tamaya laughed a cruel smiling flickering across her face, "Poor, pathetic humans bow before me before I tear out your throat and make you beg for mercy."

"What are you a totalitarian?" Sakura demanded joining Meiling, "Well guess what lady, welcome to the new age. Democracy is the way to go now."

"Democracy?" Tamaya snorted, "Human concepts for human fools. I am beyond that… I am beyond you… I am all powerful."

"Well, you're not beyond a bit of pain!" Meiling leapt at her and punched Tamaya in the face.

The force of the blow merely pushed Tamaya's head to the left slightly as Meiling's eyes widened in shock.

"Ow," Tamaya said blithely before grabbing Meiling's arm and throwing her into a wall.

The Angel sailed through the air and hit the rock wall with a loud thump as her whole world shook and rumbled. She fell to the ground with a loud groan as her battered body smashing into the hard stony ground.

"Meiling!" Sakura yelled trying to run to her friend.

In a bur of black and purple, Tamaya leapt in her way and threw a punch at her. The athletic Angel bent her back gracefully the blow sailing over her whole body as Tamaya hissed in surprise. Sakura dropped to the ground before ensnaring Tamaya's leg in a scissor kick toppling the woman over. Both combatants leapt up at the same time as Tamaya threw another wild punch at her, Sakura grabbed her wrist and kicked her exposed stomach twice before throwing her arm away and aiming a high kick at Tamaya's pale neck drawing a choked cry of pain from the demonic woman.

"Bitch!" Tamaya backhanded Sakura in the face.

The mere blow had enough force to knock Sakura off her feet. She spun through the air and landed heavily onto the ground as Tamaya barked with laughter and raised her left foot bringing the heel crashing down onto her ribs. Sakura grabbed her foot in the nick of time before it hit her grunting in pain as the hard heel slamming into her hand, she pushed upwards sending Tamaya stumbling backwards as she nimbly flipped onto her own feet.

Tamaya straightened and threw a punch with her left as Sakura did the same. In a blinding move mirroring each other, the two fighters blocked their opponent's blow with their right arm as they glared at each other straining to break through the other's defences.

"You honestly think you can defeat me? You pathetic human!" Tamaya snarled, her amethyst eyes glaring at her as Sakura glared at the woman's contorted face.

"Well, this human is kicking your butt!" the Angel snarled.

In response, Tamaya let out a feral roar as she surged forwards. Sakura's eyes widened in shock as the woman's mouth opened impossibly wide revealing long yellow-aged fangs.

Like a dark serpent, Tamaya lunged for Sakura's exposed necks. Sharp fangs brushed against the soft skin there as Sakura tried to break free. Tamaya's amethyst eyes seemed to blaze with demonic light as Sakura's eyes was unwillingly drawn to them ensnared by their purple depths. She stood still mesmerised as a triumphant look flashed across Tamaya's face.

She hissed loudly as raised her head slightly before bringing it down.

"Oh come on biting? What are you three?" a familiar voice said behind her.

Tamaya was pulled backwards as Sakura blinked breaking the spell. Hissing and spitting in fury, Tamaya was thrown into the hard wall as Tomoyo glared at her.

Amethyst eyes met pale lavender as Tamaya hissed in surprise.

"Me!" she gasped as the two eerily similar women glared at each other, "How could my descendant be so weak… how can she be human?!?"

"Cross-species racism?" Tomoyo asked lifting an eyebrow, "Wow, never seen that before."

She hit Tamaya with a left as the women roared in pain.

"Well, come on fight back," Tomoyo taunted continuing to hit Tamaya, "I'm human aren't I? Doesn't that mean you're better than me?"

Tamaya lunged at her as Tomoyo ducked beneath her swipes before jumping up and nailing her with her right. The woman sailed through the air as Tomoyo watched calmly.

Tamaya collided into the pedestal holding the mirror as her hands scrambled behind her for purchase. Her taloned fingers touched the mirror as Sakura and Tomoyo looked on.

"AHHHHH!!!" Tamaya screamed in pain as the surface of the mirror flashed.

A sizzling sound emerged into the air as Tamaya continued to scream in pain. Her hand flew off the mirror as she held it in front of her, it was blackened and the skin was blistered and peeling as though it had been badly burnt.

She gasped in shock and pain as Tomoyo and Sakura glanced at each other. Working in tandem, they charged at Tamaya and hit her with two flying kicks. Tamaya fell backwards as her back hit the mirror surface once more.

Flames burst into existence dancing along Tamaya's back as the demonic woman screamed in pain.

"Come on," Tomoyo commanded softly staring at Tamaya's flaming form, "That won't stop her for long. We need to get out of here. Now."

Nodding her assent, Sakura raced towards Meiling and helped the battered Angel onto her feet.

Running as fast as they could they raced out of the temple as Tamaya's scream of pain and fury echoed at their heels.

* * *

Cheerful music pierced the still air as Alicia glanced to her right. Resting on a small table beside the sofa her mobile phone let out another peal of cheery music as the assassin leaned over and picked up the phone. Flipping it open, she put it to her ears.

"Rueben," she said calmly.

_'I've spotted your target.'_

A cold smile manifested itself on Alicia's face as she languidly stretched eagerly anticipating some action.

"Where?"

_'Two miles northwest of Santa Barbara is a motel. They're currently staying there.'_

"Good," Alicia murmured, "Keep watching them. If they move again, tell me straight away."

Casually she disconnected the call and snapped the phone shut. Slipping it into the front pocket of her jeans she slowly stood up, an eager smile on her face.

"Finally, some action," she whispered, mirth dancing in her eyes.

She walked slowly towards an impressive armoire set into one of the walls of her apartment with measured steps. She flung the ornate glass door open and casually pulled out the false backing revealing a number-pad welded to a hard steel door. She punched in the correct numbers and waited patiently as the red light on the pad flickered to green and with a small beep the steel door slid into the wall with a faint hiss.

A few more mechanical noises rumbled faintly through the air as metal rack shot out from out Alicia's hidden compartment. She smiled wickedly as she studied the various firearms resting on the rack.

"Now what show I use?" she asked cocking her head to the side as if she was simply deciding what clothes to wear for the day, "AK-47? Nah… too quick… plus the colour doesn't really match me."

Her eyes travelled along the extensive number of guns until it fell onto her favourite.

"The sniper," Alicia smiled, "Perfect."

She pulled the sniper off the rack and studied it carefully.

"Bam!" she smirked, "This should be a piece of cake."

* * *

They barrelled through the woods pushing through the undergrowth as the dark twilight purple of the night above bleed into a fiery dawn. Glancing up, Tomoyo saw the rising sun and gave a sigh of relief.

"Stop!" she yelled.

Sakura and Meiling came to a skidding halt as they stared at their friend.

"Who the hell was that?" Meiling demanded, getting straight to the point.

"Tamaya," Tomoyo said wearily as she leaned against the rough bark of a nearby tree panting slightly.

"What's with the twin thing?" Sakura asked between gasps of breath.

"She's me."

Her fellow Angels stared at her.

"Past me."

"Oh," Meiling frowned, "Is that supposed to make sense."  
Tomoyo sighed.

"Tamaya was me in a past life. It's like I'm a reincarnation of her except for the whole vampire thing…"

"VAMPIRE?!?"

Tomoyo flapped her hands at them giving them the 'I'll explain later' motion as she pushed on.

"Tamaya was a vampire and Yue managed to trap her in the mirror intending to use her to guard the mirror and also to use her as a challenge against us. When I touched the mirror it triggered the spell setting her free," Tomoyo explained, "When I touched that mirror, it was like her memories bleed into mine. I… know her… I know everything about her… it was like I was inside her mind or something."

"Some vamp Tomoyo," Sakura sighed, "And I thought this couldn't get any weirder… so what next? What do we do about her?"

"What do we do?" Tomoyo said grimly, "We kill her."

"Great how?" Meiling asked, "She's a vampire after all so I'm guessing she was powers."

Tomoyo nodded, her knowledge of Tamaya coming into handy again.

"Super strength," she began.

"And I've got the bruises to show that," Meiling muttered as Sakura smirked at her.

"Heightened senses," Tomoyo continued, "She can hypnotise people…"

Sakura remembered the strange numb sensation she had felt when Tamaya had tried to bite her and gulped.

"She has an in-depth knowledge of hand-to-hand combat and…"

"Okay, she's powerful," Meiling cut in, "How do we take her out?"

Tomoyo was silent for a few seconds as she thought about it.

"Beheading," she said finally after a few more seconds.

Sakura and Meiling exchanged incredulous looks.

"Wooden stake through the heart. Burning her alive… exposing her to sunlight," Tomoyo listed, "A cross will drive her off but not kill her same goes with holy water."

Meiling brightened as an idea came into her head.

"Easy then, we get the Fiery card and torch her," Meiling snorted, "And I thought this was supposed to be hard!"

"There's something else you should know," Tomoyo said softly.

Meiling and Sakura stared at her.

"Why do I have the feeling I won't like what you are about to say?" Meiling sighed.

"There's a deal with this challenge," Tomoyo admitted, "When I was knocked out Yue came to me again. He told me that the mirror couldn't leave the temple until Tamaya was dead… then he told me… he told me that we couldn't use magic against her. Well, not necessarily couldn't… we can but that means we set Tamaya free. As long as we don't use magic against her, Tamaya is trapped inside the temple and can't break free but if we do…"

"She'll get loose and we'll never track her down not considering the havoc she'll cause to everyone," Sakura sighed summing up the situation, "Guess Yue wants to test our physical abilities."

"So what's the plan?" Meiling demanded.

"We get ourselves some stakes, sword, crosses and holy water," Tomoyo said grimly, "Some flares maybe…"

"And then what?" Sakura wanted to know.

"We attack at sunset."

* * *

Diana Armstrong strolled in through the front door of the law firm she worked in trying as hard as she could to keep up a cheerful façade and not let the worry that plagued her mind expose itself on her face.

"Hey, Di!"

She whirled around and stared right into a pair of cheerful blue eyes.

"What do you want Kevin?" she growled as Kevin smirked at her.

She and Kevin Lacuray worked in the same firm and were often partners on big cases but that didn't disguise the fact that Kevin was, at times, an annoying know-it-all that had a remarkable ability to grind on every single last one of her nerves. Their relationship would jump from friendship to icy frigidness in the blink of an eye but still… they worked well together.

"Boss wants us to work on the Smith case," Kevin informed her handing her a folder.

Diana flipped it open and glanced at its contents as Kevin continued.

"Man, accused of first degree murder," her partner told her.

Diana raised an eyebrow.

"Big case," she noted.

Kevin beamed.

"I know that means the boss trust us now," Kevin smirked, "Or maybe just me but doesn't want to disappoint you so he's letting you tag along."

"As if," Diana snorted, "What's our defence?"

"Self-defence."

"Witnesses? Forensic evidence?" Diana asked as she continued going through the folder keeping track of all vital information.

"None and inconclusive," Kevin supplied.

Diana sighed.

"Oh great," she moaned, "We need to really build a strong case here or we're going to get torn apart in court."

"Don't worry," Kevin winked at her, "I'm on it."

"Now I'm worried," Diana shot back.

Kevin laughed as Diana rolled her eyes and walked away towards her office. Passing another of her fellow lawyer she shot her a friendly smile before opening her door and slipping inside.

Throwing the folder onto the desk and dumping her briefcase onto the floor, Diana walked straight to her phone and picked it up. She punched in several numbers and waited anxiously as it began ringing.

_'Hello?' _a cheerful male voice greeted her.

"Marcus," Diana sighed talking to the man she now considered her friend, "Any word on them? Sakura? Is she okay and Zachary… have you heard from him?"

There was a short silence as Diana fidgeted nervously, the suspense killing her.

_'None yet,' _Marcus said shortly, _'But don't worry the girls usually don't contact people when they're on… jobs. As for Zachary… well I think it's better if he kept a low profile.'_

Diana chewed her lip for a few seconds as she tried to beat down the worry and concern that welled up inside of her. Suddenly an idea came into her head.

"Hey, you were a lawyer weren't you?" Diana asked.

There was a surprised silence on the other end as Diana smiled to herself.

_'Yeah… so?' _Marcus asked, a bit taken aback at Diana's abrupt change of subject.

"It's just that…" Diana sighed, "I've got this case. Man accused of first degree murder… he says it's self-defence but there's no witness and forensic evidence was inconclusive…"

_'Hmm… that's interesting,' _Marcus thought for a few seconds, _'I once had a case like that…'_

"Did you win?"

_'Of course,' _Marcus said smugly.

Diana rolled her eyes at another sign of men's egoistic tendencies but remained silent.

'I built up a defence around…' 

Diana grabbed a piece of paper and pen and began writing furiously as Marcus told her the details of his case. Lost in her work, Diana's concerns over her friends and her helplessness in not being able to help were soon forgotten as she concentrated on what Marcus was saying.

* * *

"Is this really smart?" Sakura asked.

"You got a better plan?" Meiling wanted to know.

"Yeah," Sakura grinned at them, "Run for our lives."

"Not funny," Tomoyo informed her.

Sakura shrugged as they continued trekking through the woods. Tomoyo checked that her weapons were secure as she glimpsed a flash of the dull stone grey of the temple walls through a narrow opening between two immense tree trunks.

Tomoyo felt the cross resting inside her pocket as well as the one hanging around her neck. She checked that the sword they had managed to find in an old antique shop was strapped across her back in a makeshift scabbard and that the handle was within easy reach.

"We need to do this quick, fast and hard," Meiling told them, "We attack her from all sides and remember. Don't. Look. In. Her. Eyes."

"Okay, no staring contests," Sakura muttered, "Check."

Meiling glanced at her two friends.

"Let's do this."

Nivaline was talking furiously into her mobile phone as she paced around the hallway of the hospital. At first she had tried to ignore the strange feeling that had alarmed her so but as the day wore on it had reached feverish pitch. Something was wrong with the world… horribly wrong.

"Elders," she said trying to keep a tone of respect in her voice whilst addressing her fellow Elders, "We need to track this down. Now. It cannot wait."

_'We'll try,' _an enigmatic voice said softly over the phone, _'Give us time. We'll inform you when we are sure.'_

Nivaline's phone went dead as the woman sighed.

"What the hell is going on?" she whispered, "What the hell am I sensing?"

Tamaya lunged at them screeching like an irritated crow as two of the Angels lunged to the side leaving Meiling to take the force of the blow. Meiling sidestepped Tamaya's wild swipe and kicked the woman twice in the ribs. The vampire backhanded Meiling in the face spinning her around before delivering a short snap-kick to the Asian Angel's stomach.

Sakura and Tomoyo slowly inched their way behind the fight trying to come up behind Tamaya as Meiling recovered and kicked the demonic woman away.

The vampire's eyes widened slightly as Meiling reached behind her and pulled out her sword.

"Come and get me," Meiling hissed swaying slightly from side to side like a deadly cobra.

Tamaya lunged at her as Meiling twisted her body to avoid the blow before bringing her sword down in a powerful slash. A bleeding line ripped across Tamaya's back as the vampire howled in pain. She leapt away as Meiling leapt at her, the sword flashing in and out as she jagged at the vampire. Tamaya kicked Meiling's hand away before spinning around gracefully landing a powerful kick to Meiling's chest as she came to a stop. Meiling stumbled backwards but regained her balance quickly as she charged again bringing the sword down in an overhead swipe.

In a lightning fast move Tamaya stuck out her hand and grabbed the descending blade with her bare hands. Meiling gasped in surprise as she strained to break free from the vampire's grip but the woman held fast.

"Pathetic," Tamaya hissed as thin stream of black blood dripped down her arm, "Amateur."

Meiling growled in anger as she flung the sword away knocking Tamaya slightly off-balance. A powerful kick battered Tamaya's hand sending the sword flying through the air before hitting the hard stone ground with a loud tang.

Tamaya threw a left hook at her but Meiling grabbed her arm.

"NOW!" she roared.

Sakura lunged at Tamaya in a flying kick that hit her in the arm throwing the vampire forwards slightly. Meiling smiled wickedly as she felt something break inside the arm as Tamaya roared in pain. The arm was now at an unnatural angle as Meiling dropped the battered limb. A thin splinter of bone poked through Tamaya's pale skin as the vampire roared in pain again.

"Broke your arm," Meiling smirked, "Guess you can't use that one now."

Tamaya smirked at her even as pain flooded into her amethyst eyes.

"Don't need an arm," Tamaya growled straightening a smug smirk flashing across her face, "Got an army."

Sakura, Meiling and Tomoyo stared at each other as Tamaya cackled.

"ARISE MY ARMY AND TEAR THESE MORTALS APART!"

From the shadows a veritable army of pale skin, ripping talons and glowing blood-red eyes surged forwards. The Angels gasped in shock as Tamaya laughed again. A ring of snarling demonic figure each clawed and fanged swiped and hissed at them.

"Oh my god," Tomoyo whispered as the ring of demons tightened forcing the three Angels together back-to-back.

Tamaya laughed as she leapt up into the air sailing over her army of vampires as they hissed at the Angels revealing gleaming fangs. The dark vampire landed onto the ground as she turned around and laughed at the Angels.

"Thought you could defeat me didn't you?" Tamaya smirked, "Now you know better. TEAR THEM APART!"

They leapt forwards as one as Meiling kicked one vampire out of the air but there were plenty more. Sakura ducked a taloned swipe before slashing the vampire across the stomach with her sword, the demon staggered backwards howling with pain as Sakura leapt up and slashed with her sword.

The blade cleaved through skin, muscles and bone as Sakura's eyes widened with shock. The demon's head flew through the air before hitting the ground as its body, headless, collapsed to its knees. Silence descended onto the room as everyone, demon and human, stared at the headless body. With a soft poof, head and body exploded into a cloud of damp dust as an invisible breeze swept through the room spraying the combatants nearby with the demon's dusty remains as the three Angels stared at each other.

"Guess they're not so tough after all," Sakura smirked as the vampires roared in fury and charged at them.

A ruthless smile graced Meiling's lips as she lunged forwards with her sword impaling a vampire with its razor-edge blade. She ripped the sword out before loping the vampire's head off before it had exploded to dust Meiling had already whirled around and faced her next opponent.

Tomoyo danced gracefully around a snarling vampire's swiping talons before kicking the vampire to the ground with a snap-kick to its knees shattering bone and ligaments. It fell to its knees roaring with pain as Tomoyo calmly chopped its head off watching coolly as it disintegrated into dust.

The three Angels were holding their own but there was just too many of them. For every vampire they killed, three more would leap at them. Slowly they were forced backwards standing almost back-to-back as the vampires howled triumphantly, blood-lust gleaming in their burning eyes.

"We can't fight all of these things," Tomoyo whispered to her friends.

"You think?!?" Sakura shot back sarcastically as she chopped at a clawed arm that lunged at her.

"Tomo," Meiling muttered through grit-teeth as she kicked a snarling vampire away, "FLARE ME!"

Without even bothering to turn around, Tomoyo reached into a holster strapped to her hip and pulled out a flare gun. Passing the black gun to her friend, Tomoyo concentrated on beating back the army of vampire that threatened to overwhelm them as Sakura covered for the Asian Angel as Meiling checked that a flare was loaded properly into the gun.

"When I fire, run," Meiling commanded.

Not waiting for a reply, Meiling aimed at the wall of vampires that blocked off their way to the temple's exit and pulled the trigger. A ball of burning crimson light hit the vampires a shower of sparks leapt into the air as several demons burst into fire.

"GO! GO! GO!" Meiling yelled charging straight for the exit.

A clawed hand shot out at her but she hacked it off without even glancing away from her target. She cannonballed straight into another vampire knocking it off its feet as her heels slammed into first its stomach, chest then face as she stepped right on top of it on her way towards the exit.

A snarling face was punched away as Meiling kicked another vampire out of her way. She continued running, kicking and punching everything that leapt into her way. All sense of time and direction were blurred as she head blindly in a straight line.

Suddenly the sound of snarling and growls of fury died away as cool night air brushed against her skin. Meiling blinked in surprise as she looked around her mind trying to register where she was.

She was outside.

Behind her, Sakura leapt through the doorway of the temple landing beside her friend as she gasped for breath.

"Let's never, ever do that again," the American Angel moaned as she stood up slowly.

Behind them the army of vampires roared their wrath as they charged straight for them, the two Angels whirled around immediately, eyes widening as they saw them approach. They both raised their swords bracing themselves for the impact as the vampires leapt into the air.

And hit an invisible wall.

The two Angels blinked in surprise as the vampires were flung backwards. The air framed by the temple doorway seemed to thicken and congeal into a semi-liquid state as more vampires hurled themselves at the sudden barrier. The air seemed to transform into a gelatinous mass trapping the vampires as they roared and battered their fists against the barricade, a flash of azure light blinded the Angels and vampires as the demons were hurled backwards with incredible forced dashing their bodies against the fall wall of the temple.

"So that's how Yue is keeping them trapped in there," Sakura noted, "Nice to know."

"At least we got away," Meiling sighed.

Suddenly they both froze as they realised something. They turned and stared at each other.

"Where's Tomoyo?"

* * *

"Ahh… so we got one of them," Tamaya laughed as two of her vampires dragged the prone form of her descendant towards her.

She strolled towards the unconscious Angel as her broken arm began to repair itself. Broken skin and muscles knitted back together as her bones fused together forming a seamless solid as Tamaya laughed.

"Well, honey," she smirked addressing Tomoyo, "Guess what? You get to be my bait."

* * *

"We can't go in there again," Sakura murmured staring back into the blackness of the temple, "Not without a plan."

"Well, we need one and quick," Meiling snarled at her, "Or Tomoyo's dead."

Sakura thought for a few seconds.

"What time is it?" she asked suddenly.

"Time?!? Why the hell do you need to know that?" Meiling roared at her, "If we don't hurry up and come up with a plan Tomoy…"

"What is the time," Sakura repeated strong this time.

Meiling sighed and glanced at her.

"Taiwanese time one o'clock," she muttered.

"Good, we have five hours," Sakura sheathed her sword and with a last reluctant glance at the temple began walking away.

Her fear for her friend taking a backseat to her curiosity, Meiling trailed after Sakura wondering what plan she had in mind.

"Five hours till what?" Meiling demanded.

"Sunrise."

* * *

Alicia Rueben stopped her car and got up.

"Where are they?" she demanded speaking into her mobile.

'They're heading towards you in a battered blue Sudan. They should be there in five minutes or so.'

"Good," Alicia hung up as she glanced around.

Her car was perched on top of a rocky outcrop looking down onto a long and winding road beneath the baking Californian sun. She opened up her car trunk and pulled out her sniper rifle.

"Sorry," she said coldly as she checked the ammunition, "The hunt ends here."

Tamaya sighed in frustration.

"You know I thought they'd be here by now," the vampire growled.

She glanced at Tomoyo who was now wide awake, the Japanese Angel had her hands and feet bound by dirty lengths of rope as an equally filthy piece of cloth was strapped around her mouth preventing her from speaking. Her pale-lavender eyes glared into Tamaya's amused amethyst ones as she struggled against her bonds.

"You know it's been I don't know… four… five hours now," Tamaya sighed, "Maybe they just abandoned you… not really surprising considering who they're up against. It just shows that they're smarter than they look if they're really stupid they'll come charging in here to save you."

Tamaya sashayed over to Tomoyo and smiled into her furious eyes.

"Aww… don't feel too bad honey," she cooed, "It's not your fault. They can't help feeling scared of little old me. I'm more powerful than anything you can imagine… I'm more powerful than any weapon mankind can forge. I'm…"

"BOOM!"

The whole temple shook as a shower of dust and chipped rock rained down onto the ground. Tamaya looked up in surprise and snarled in fury.

"What the hell is that?"

* * *

"You know," Sakura said casually, "It's really nice to know the black market of Taiwan is going strong."

Meiling nodded as she strapped the small block of C-4 she held in her hands to the temple roof. She backed away hurriedly as Sakura waited until her friend was out of range before remotely detonating the block of explosive.

Black smoke and shattered rock sprayed into the air as the explosion tore a gaping hole into the rock roof. Sunlight spilled through the hole as Sakura smiled enjoying the beautiful image the Taiwanese sunrise presented to her.

Meiling attached another block of C-4 onto another section of the roof as Sakura waited. It had taken them three hours to locate an illegal seller of these explosives at first he had been reluctant to sell them to strange foreigners but had wavered upon seeing the stack of cash they had presented to him. Pressing the red button on the remote detonator, another hole was blown into the roof as more sunlight spilled into the dark temple.

Sakura smiled.

"Hang in there Tomoyo," she whispered, "Not long now."

* * *

Tamaya's eyes widened in shock as a beam of sunlight lanced through the darkness incinerating a vampire as the golden light caressed its pale form.

Another explosion shook the temple closely followed by another. Multiples beams of light shot into the temples as the vampires wearily backed away from the solar lights.

Tomoyo and Tamaya watched with almost identical looks of surprise as a length of rope fell through one of those holes in the ceiling.

"What the?" Tamaya scowled as a pair of legs was thrust through the hole followed by a torso and arms and finally a familiar face.

"Hiya Tamaya," Sakura smirked, "Good morning!"

She slid down the rope and landed inside the temple still safely inside the column of sunlight as she waved to the vampires.

"Not really a morning person are they?" Sakura smirked, "Oh, come on you'll never get a tan without sunlight."

She reached into her pockets as she continued smiling at the vampires.

"Here, this'll help you," her expression turned deadly calm as she raised the mirror she held in her hands up into the sunlight.

The light bounced off the mirror and struck a vampire burning its flesh as Tamaya's jaw dropped in surprise.

"Meiling," Sakura took out a walkie-talkie with her other hand and spoke into it as she continued to direct sunlight into the army of vampires with her mirror," Tomoyo is in the far end of the temple."

She shoved the communication device back into her pocket as she smiled at the demons.

"Aww… what's wrong can't hurt me?" she smirked knowing full well the vampires couldn't touch her as long as she stayed in the sunlight, "Too bad."

"BOOM!"

Another explosion larger than all of the others before tore through the roof bringing down almost half of the ceiling as sunlight burst into the dark temple. Vampires were firstly buried by the rubble before being incinerated by the sunlight screeching in pain as they exploded into dust.

"See, we were afraid to blow up the whole roof since we didn't know where Tomoyo was and we may have ended up hurting her," Sakura explained smirking at Tamaya, "But now we know so…"

Another explosion tore through the roof destroying more of the ceiling and more vampires as sunlight scorched the demonic monsters. Tamaya dragged Tomoyo into the shadows as more of the brethren died.

"You can't hurt me," Tamaya roared, "Not as long as I have this nice bait with me. Stopping blowing the ceiling up or she dies!"

Sakura smiled at her.

"Oh, don't worry. We're finished with the blowing up."

Meiling leapt down from the roof and landed gracefully onto an immense pile of the debris as she smirked at Tamaya and finished the sentence.

"We want to do the cleaning up hands on."

Sakura held the mirror up again and directed the sunlight at Tamaya as the vampire roared in pain. Sunlight seared her hand as she threw Tomoyo to the ground and dashed away from the sunlight.

Meiling leapt down from the rubble and attacked one of the few surviving vampires throwing it into the sunlight where it exploded into dust. Sakura raced towards Tomoyo as she pulled out a knife.

With two quick swipes she cut the bonds that bound her friend's hands and legs as the Japanese Angel yanked her filthy mouth-gag off.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"What did you think we were going to do?" Sakura asked smiling impishly, "Abandon you?"

"For a second there…" Tomoyo smiled back, "Yeah."

"Aww… no trust. See that's your problem."

Meiling threw the last vampire in the sun and watched it fry as the three Angels turned to stare at Tamaya.

"What's wrong fang-face?" Meiling asked, "Scared?"

"Mortals, you hope to defeat me?" Tamaya roared.

"Oh come on, the whole egoistic thing doesn't really work if you're cowering in the corner," Sakura muttered.

Tamaya laughed at her.

"I'm not cowering," she glared at them as her amethyst eyes flashed.

Demonic light seemed to burn in her purple eyes as the Angels were drawn into staring into them, mesmerised by their depths.

"Come to me," Tamaya whispered her voice merely a mere hiss, "Come to me, humans. Come to me."

Their eyes glassy and unstaring the Angels made a stumbling step towards them, Tamaya's voice overwhelming their minds. They had to listen to her… the eyes… those amethyst eyes seemed to burn in their minds… drilling into their heads…

"Come to me."

They made another step towards her. Closer and closer, they walked their minds numbed to everything but Tamaya's commands.

"Come to me."

They were mere inches away as Tamaya smiled wickedly.

"Come to me and die," she whispered.

"Oh please," Tomoyo said suddenly smirking at her, "Hypnotising? Save it for the tourists!"

She punched the vampire in the face as Sakura and Meiling blinked snapping out of their numbed state. Tomoyo kicked Tamaya in the chest driving her backwards as Tamaya stared wildly at her.

"How? How did you…"

"Not be mesmerised by you?" Tomoyo shrugged, "Maybe I'm special!"

She kicked Tamaya again as Sakura shook herself and reached into her pocket.

"TOMOYO!" she threw something at her teammate.

Deftly the Japanese Angel caught the wooden stake sailing through the air and in one fluid movement shoved the wooden weapon through Tamaya's chest puncturing her cold un-beating heart.

Tamaya stared at her in shock as Tomoyo drove the stake in deeper into the vampire's cold chest.

"You killed me," she whispered.

Her skin dissolved into dust as her muscles shrivelled up. Tomoyo grimaced as the vampire's muscles exploded into damp dust spraying the Angel in the face. A skeleton fell to the ground as Tomoyo let go of the body and stepped away, fine fractures appeared on the bones as they slowly crumbled decomposing into a pile of dust as the three Angels looked on.

With a soft hiss, the skeleton collapsed as the gentle morning sun so dangerous against the monsters they had just defeated bathed the pile of dust, which was all that remained of Tamaya, with its golden radiance.

"She's dead," Meiling said softly as though trying to reassure herself.

"Finally," Sakura muttered.

"You know what that means?" Tomoyo asked turning to face them with a brilliant grin.

"What?"

"The mirror is ours!"

Without another word, Tomoyo eagerly walked over to the pedestal standing in the middle of the temple, which had somehow managed to survive the destruction of much of the temple's ceiling as her friends look on not wanting to disturb this sacred moment. With infinite care, Tomoyo reached out gently and touched the mirror.

She was half-afraid another Tamaya could appear again but when several seconds passed and nothing happened she relaxed and lifted the mirror off the silver claws that held it in place.

Light refracted off the mirror's surface creating a kaleidoscope of rainbow colours as Tomoyo smiled realising that after all the trials they had gone through the mirror was theirs. She stared at it, admiring its beauty.

Suddenly the surface of the glass turned opaque and cloudy as Tomoyo stared at it. From within the smoky depths, an image appeared as Tomoyo gasped falling to her knees as her lavender eyes were drawn to the glass unable to break away even if her life had depended on it.

"TOMOYO?!?" Sakura and Meiling yelled running towards her friends.

Their voices sounded so very far away.

* * *

Alicia smiled as a battered blue Sudan appeared in her line of view. From her position of lying on the sandy ground of the outcrop, she could see past the reflected glare of the window but that was no problem. She was expert enough to hit the driver.

She aimed her sniper and waited patiently as the car shot past.

"BANG!"

The recoil jolted her but she smiled as the driver window of the car shattered. The car suddenly veered off the road and slammed into a straggly tree smoke pouring out from its crumpled engine.

Alicia smiled coldly as she pulled out her mobile.

"Ms. Faren?" she asked, "Mr. Yamazaki has been eliminated."

Calmly she stood up and dismantled her sniper before packing in up into a silver suitcase and stowing it up in her trunk. Without another glance as the wrecked car, Alicia climbed into her own started and engine and drove away.

* * *

CLIFFHANGER!!! (AGAIN!) Sorry about the massive delay but I suffered a major writer's block! But I'm over that now and here is another chapter (and it's even longer than the last one!)

Next chapter:

When the Angels return to American, Sakura is shocked and horrified to find out one of her friends has been killed. Meanwhile Mr. Noir has figured out Lilia was the one behind the killing and is out for her blood. With nowhere to turn to Lilia turns to the Angels for help but Sakura would stop at nothing to avenge her friend… who has been killed? What did Tomoyo see in the mirror? Find out next in… _Alliances_

A/Note: A massive chapter with some elements of Buffy in it! Hope you like it! Took me ages to write due to the fact I had major writer's block. Hopefully the next one would be written up quicker… hopefully.

And as always… THANK YOU TO MY READERS AND REVIEWERS! KEEPING ON REVIEWING!


	29. Alliances

YAYYYY!!! NEW CHAPTER (Gasp!)!!! Sorry about the delay! And as always review! 20 new reviews means new chapter!!!! 

Disclaimer: You know the drill… blah… blah… don't own a thing…

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 28: Alliances**

"Tomoyo?"

Tomoyo tore her eyes away from the mirror and blinked, the dazed look in her pupils disappearing as Sakura and Meiling watched anxiously wondering what had just happened.

"Tomoyo?" Meiling asked.

"I saw it," Tomoyo whispered awed by the vision that had just come to her through the mirror.

"Saw what?"

"The location of the third book."

* * *

Eriol Hiragizawa sighed as he shoved his clothes randomly into his bag as he made arrangements over the phone for a plane ticket to London.

This job had been a disaster from start to finish as soon as he had laid eyes on Tomoyo Daidouji he knew he couldn't bring himself to kill her. He had tried to poison her but he just couldn't…

He was in love with her and as much as that screwed up his life… he didn't regret it.

He couldn't regret it.

Eriol sighed as he hung up the phone and shoved one last shirt into his already bulging bag. He stood there silent for a few seconds before zipping up his bag as he wondered if he should try and contact her one last time. He stared at the phone for a few seconds, internally debating the idea before forcing himself to stop this foolishness.

He was an assassin.

He couldn't fall in love with the enemy.

He just couldn't.

Hefting up his bag, Eriol turned around and walked out of the hotel room determined to once and for all forget about the woman he had fall in love with.

Closing the door to the room, he walked away.

* * *

"Chelsea?"

Sunlight blared through the shattered windshield as Zachary stirred inside the wrecked car. He had been driving throughout most of the trip after Syaoran had left them in that Santa Barbara motel giving them directions to another safe house further up north but Chelsea had persisted on driving for a while after seeing how tired he was and insisting that he rest.

And now…

"Chelsea?"

Zachary gently nudged his wife's prone body.

No response.

His whole body froze as he felt something warm and liquid spread onto his fingers. He lifted them away from his wife and held them up.

It was blood, staining his skin and dripping down his arm. It was everywhere… on the upholstery on the car… on his wife's clothes… arm… body… face

"CHELSEA!"

* * *

Lilia Faren smiled as she hung up the phone.

"Ah… perfect," she whispered, "I knew Alicia could do it."

She only had a few more seconds to bathe in the glory of her triumph before her phone rang. A bit annoyed, Lilia picked it up.

"What?" she growled down the line.

"Umm… sorry to disturb you Ms. Faren," William apologised politely, "But I had just received some images that may interest you. I'm faxing them through to your office right now."

"Do it," Lilia snapped as she hung up the phone, slamming it down with a loud bang as her fax machine came to life with a loud bleep.

Slowly a sheet of paper was fed through the machine as Lilia waited impatiently, waiting to see what it was. When the fax machine finished, Lilia snatched the paper up and looked at it carefully.

Her eyes widened in shock.

It was a blurry black and white image of a familiar looking man…

"Eriol Hiragizawa," Lilia mused, "The infamous assassin."

Her eyes drift to the right of the page and what she saw drew a gasp of surprise from her.

"Tomoyo Daidouji," she whispered venomously recognising the familiar figure, "One of those blasted Angel."

The two of them appeared to be very intimate sitting across one another with a beautifully laid out table between them complete with white tablecloth and intimate candles.

She picked up her phone and punched in a button.

"William," she demanded, "Where did you get this."

"It's from a restaurant in downtown L.A.," William explained, "One of our… associates were there for another purpose but captured this image by accident."

"So it's real?"

"100%"

"Good."

Lilia hung up as she smiled at the image.

"Mr. Hiragizawa," she whispered to herself, "This is going to be very interesting."

* * *

The doctor walked up to the bed as one of the nurses carefully checked the I.V. drip.

"Still no change?" he asked.

Nurse shook her head.

"No change, still out cold," she reported.

The doctor nodded as he made a note on a clipboard he held before glancing at the patient. Lara Williams lay on the bed her lithe form limp as her body tried to recover from having the power of the Void card running through it…

But the doctor didn't know that was the cause of Lara's mysterious coma.

"Just make sure she's hydrated," the doctor ordered, "There seems to be nothing else we can do right now."

The nurse nodded as the doctor walked away to tend to his other patients. The nurse checked the drip one last time before hurrying away as well leaving Lara alone again.

* * *

Emerald and ruby eyes stared into lavender ones as silence hung in the air between them like a tangible object.

"Third book?" Sakura whispered, her mind flashing back to her trip to the limbo.

An image of the blue and silver book appeared in her mind's eye as Tomoyo nodded.

"Yeah," she said, slowly getting up off the ground and facing them properly, "I saw its hiding place."

"Where?" Meiling asked eagerly.

"Japan."

* * *

Zachary stumbled along the heated tar of the lonely winding road, the wrecked car with his wife slumped inside miles behind him as he staggered forwards looking for help… looking for any sign of civilisation.

His weary eyes swept the sunbaked desert and saw none. Overwhelmed with fatigue and grief, he slumped to his knees and desperately tried to cling on to his consciousness darkness seeped into his mind like a vile liquid flooding his every nerve with lethargy. He fell forwards, the hot surface of the road searing his skin through his bloodstained shirt.

Dimly he could hear the crows above cawing as though calling their brethren to come and mock the pathetic human that had just fallen or perhaps to call them over in anticipation of an easy meal.

Whatever it was Zachary could care less.

She was gone…

His wife…

Chelsea…

Her name resounded through his head as heat and exhaustion swamped his mind and everything melted into darkness.

* * *

Tomoyo stared moodily out of the window as wisps of cloud clung onto the plane wings and windows. Beside her Sakura slept uneasily, muttering and turning in her sleep as Meiling calmly read a novel she had picked up at one of the airport stores. They were heading back to American; the mirror carefully packed into her bag, which was resting in the luggage compartment overhead. Tomoyo glanced upwards and hoped for possibly the trillionth time that the mirror wouldn't break. Hopefully Clow Reed had thought to build in an anti-shatter spell into the mirror otherwise they were doomed.

A small moan from Sakura drew Tomoyo away from her thoughts as she glanced at her friend worriedly.

=What on earth is she dreaming about?=

* * *

The sound of crows cawing echoed inside Sakura's head as she wandered down a long and winding road, searing sunlight scorching her back and face. She glanced up and had to look away as the sun threatened to burn her delicate eyes into charred cinders.

Heat waves rolled off the road hanging shimmering in the air like a spectral spirit as Sakura shaded her eyes with her hands trying to pierce the sea of shimmering waves to see where she was exactly. But all that greeted her was another long stretch of winding road that dwindled off to the horizon.

"What is going on?" she murmured to herself.

She began walking down along the road when a sudden gust of wind thew handfuls of red dirt and heated air into her face blinding her temporarily. As she scrubbed at her eyes trying to clear her visions her foot stumbled over a rock sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Oof!"

The wind was driven from her body as her stomach slapped against the hot hard tar of the road. Her hands scrambled beside her searching for purchase as she tried to shove herself up again.

She brushed against something soft.

She looked to her side and screamed. A familiar-looking face stared at her with glassy eyes as she scrambled away from its prone form. She jumped up still staring wildly at the still body.

"Chelsea?!?" she gasped recognising her friend.

Sakura watched in horrified silence as a river of blood suddenly exploded from her friend's head spraying her clothes with the warm liquid. She looked down at her shirt in horror as Chelsea continued to stare at her. Suddenly a guttural voice, deeper than any Chelsea could have produced spoke.

"It's all your fault," Chelsea's mouth moved as the deep voice spoke, accusing her, "This is all your fault."

Sakura screamed again.

"SAKURA!"

Sakura almost leapt out of her chair as Meiling and Tomoyo looked at her worriedly.

"You looked like you were freaking out," Meiling said in a way of explanation.

"Is something wrong?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura stared at them with wild, panicked eyes.

"I think I just murdered my friend."

* * *

Nivaline sighed with relief as the dark energy that hung in the air suddenly dissipated without a trace. Her relief however was replaced several seconds later by a frown of confusion, she still had no idea where that ill feeling had come from and it didn't comfort her any less that it would suddenly just disappear like that.

But before she could dwell on her confusion any longer a cheerful tune burst into the air as she jumped. Hurriedly she plucked her vibrating mobile phone out of her pocket and flipped it open.

"Hello?" she asked.

_'We managed to track down the source of the energy,' _a mysterious voice replied not even bothering to greet her.

"Where?" the Elder demanded.

_'Taiwan… to be more specific the Sun Moon Lake.'_

Nivaline gasped as she realised what it meant.

"The Angels…" she whispered.

There was a short silence on the other end of the line.

_'Excuse me?'_

"Ignore it," Nivaline ordered, "Was I right? Is it a…"

_'Nosferatu?' _the voice asked, _'Yes, it was. The dark energy came from a vampire… a very powerful one in fact.'_

"Oh god," the ex-Angel said faintly, "The guardian…"

_'Guardian?!?' _for the first time real emotion entered the speaker's voice as he realised what Nivaline had just said, _'The third talisman!'_

"Hush," Nivaline commanded, "Be quiet. The guardian must be have been defeated… that's why the energy disappeared."

_'The third talisman,' _the speaker's voice was hushed with awe, _'The chosen three must have retrieved it!'_

"Let's hope so," Nivaline said grimly, "And let's hope the enemy hasn't got a hold on it. Look, I need to go. I'll talk to you later."

With that she hung up as she slipped the phone back into her pocket of her sea-green jeans and sighed.  
"The girls succeeded?" a weak voice asked.

Nivaline looked down at Kiyone who was still lying in her hospital bed supposedly resting.

"You're supposed to be asleep," the Elder reproved.

"Whatever," Kiyone yawned as she tried to sit up but Nivaline gently pushed her back down onto the mattress.

"Rest," she ordered.

Kiyone sighed in frustration as she made herself comfortable.  
"They succeeded?" she asked looking up at Nivaline with piercing teal eyes.

Nivaline nodded as a brilliant grin split Kiyone's face.

"So the big bad's screwed?"

"Almost."

"I knew they could do it," Kiyone smiled wistfully, "They are just like us."

"Except for the whole traitor thing," Nivaline answered with a wry smile.

"True," Kiyone noted.

They smiled at each other in companionable silence both of them unaware that the object of their hatred was laying in a bed only several metres away.

* * *

Yue smiled as he felt the wave of magic that washed over him telling him that the mirror had fallen into the Angels' possession.

"So why didn't you tell me that the girls knew about the mirror's location?" an annoyed voice asked from somewhere behind him.

He slowly turned around as Psuedo-Sakura waited impatiently for his answer, her arms folded across her chest.

"You didn't need to know," he said simply.

"Phew," Psuedo-Sakura snorted, "Of course I needed to know! I supposed to try and stop them from getting to the talisman and book!"

"The talisman had its own guardian," Yue told her with a small smile, "You were not needed to trial them."

"Oh, I'm hurt," Psuedo-Sakura spat back, "So how did your little guardian stand up to the might of the 'Powerpuff Girls'?"

"They're not the Powerpuff Girls," Yue informed her calmly.

"Sure they are," Psuedo-Sakura began pacing around as she continued speaking, "There are three of them and they're sugar, spice and everything… useless. So yeah, that makes them the Powerpuff Girls."

"You're disrespect does not amuse me."

"Tell me if I give a damn," Psuedo-Sakura yawned, "So what's shaking boss? What's next?"

"I sense that the Flower is greatly troubled by something," Yue said softly ignoring his challenge.

"And hello leverage!" Psuedo-Sakura smirked, "Hey moon-face want to see how much damage I can do?"

In a bright flash of light she disappeared leaving Yue behind who seemed indifferent to her departure.  
"Something is wrong," he whispered, "Something is about to happen. Something big."

* * *

Zachary blinked wearily as bright light blinded his eyes again. He must be still out in the desert under the harsh unforgiving sun… he needed to find help… he need to…

"Hey! Easy there," a warm comforting voice said soothingly.

Zachary blinked again and realised he was staring into a torch or something.

"Do you remember who you are?" the voice continued slowly careful to pronounce each word perfectly lest the patient was disorientated and could not understand, "Do you remember what day it is?"

"My name… my name…" Zachary panted, "Zachary Yamazaki."

"Good," the voice seemed to be talking to someone else now as Zachary continued to try and clear his vision, "Nurse, he's badly dehydrated and suffering from sunburn. Hook him up to an I.V. drip and…"

"Where am I?" Zachary demanded, strength welling up inside his battered body.

"Santa Barbara Hospital."

Zachary could see clearly enough now to realise that he was talking to a violet-haired woman with sympathetic eyes. A stethoscope was draped casually around her neck indicating her position as a doctor as she smiled at him again.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Helen Bruck," she introduced herself, "Some motorists find you collapsed on the road…"

Zachary stared at her with wide panicked eyes as he remembered the incidents leading up to his collapse.

"My wife!" he gasped, "Please doctor, my wife!"

"Your wife?" she turned to the nurse, "Was there anyone else with him?"

The nurse shook her head.

"No! Our car crashed! She's in there, she's hurt!" Zachary yelled.

"Call the police tell them to check," Dr. Bruck commanded.

The nurse hurried away as Helen turned to Zachary.

"Please sir you have to calm down…" she began.

"My wife!"

He thrashed around wildly the bed sheets tangling around his body as Helen looked on helplessly.

"Sir, you have to stay still," she tried again.

"My wife!" Zachary tried to jump out of bed but the sheets tightened around his leg binding him to the bed as he continued to struggle.

"Security!" Helen yelled suddenly afraid for her and her patient's safety, "Restrain him!"

Two burly men raced into the room as Zachary screamed in frustration and tried to get up again. They held him down pushing him back into the mattress as Zachary struggled helplessly, screaming helplessly his whole mind focused on his wife. Helen make a quick decision and pulled a needle and a vial of clear liquid from the pocket of her white doctor's coat. She plunged the needle into the cork lid of the vial sucking up some of the chemical into the clear needle before give it a gentle squirt to ensure it worked. Working quickly she grabbed Zachary's flailing arm and plunged the sedative-filled needle into Zachary's arm with little ceremony.

The liquid was forced into his body as Zachary continued to struggle, tears pouring down his face. The sedative numbed his senses and body as he gave one final twitch before collapsing into a dreamless sleep.

The last thing he saw before he sank into darkness was Helen's concerned face.

* * *

The first thing Sakura did when she was off the plane was to pull out her mobile phone and hurriedly rang the emergency number that Xiaolang had given to her before he had left with Chelsea and Zachary in tow.

She pushed through the crowd of passengers and expectant relatives that filled the airport heading towards the exit as her two fellow Angels trailed behind her wondering what was going on.

_'Hello?' _a warm voice replied

"Xiaolang!"

Meiling and Tomoyo exchanged surprised looks as Sakura continued to talk to Xiaolang.

"Where are Chelsea and Zachary? Are they with you? Are they okay?"

_'What? Calm down, slow down,' _Xiaolang replied hurriedly, _'Is something wrong?'_

"Okay, this may sound incredibly stupid but I… I had a dream and I think something happened to them," Sakura took a deep breath and attempted to calm herself down, "Where are they?"

'I left them in a motel two miles northwest of Santa Barbara,' Xiaolang paused, 'They were supposed to go to a safe house in Bakersfield before being transported to San Francisco.' "Have they arrived there yet?" Sakura demanded as she walked through one of the many sliding glass doors of Los Angeles International Airport. 

_'No to my knowledge,' _Xiaolang replied.

"Why did you leave them by themselves?" Sakura growled as she headed for the car park with Meiling and Tomoyo continuing to follow her at a distance wisely keeping out of the phone conversation.

'I couldn't help it… other matters required my attention and Zachary and Chelsea assured me they would be fine.'

"They are being hunted down! They are not fine!" Sakura exploded, she quietened down when she realised people were staring at her.

Continuing in a lower voice, Sakura tried to control her temper.

"They are wanted by the company from hell," she hissed, "You should have made sure they got there safely!"

_'I seriously could not help it,' _Xiaolang defended himself, _'I did the best I could…'_

"Well, your best is not good enough," Sakura snapped as she hung up her phone, "Tomoyo?"

"Yeah?" the Japanese Angel hurried to her friend's side as Sakura scanned the busy car park for the car they had parked here just three days ago.

=So much has happened= Sakura thought wearily as she finally spotted their jeep.

"Tomoyo as soon as we get to a computer I want you to run a check on all hospital records, police records and traffic reports around the Santa Barbara and Bakersfield region," Sakura commanded.

"Why?" Tomoyo asked confused.

"I think Chelsea and Zachary are in trouble."

* * *

Eriol Hiragizawa strolled through the front entrance of L.A. International Airport unwittingly just missing the Angels own exit. He glanced up at the dashboard that displayed the status of all incoming and departing planes and quickly noticed that his own flight was beginning to board.

With a whispered curse he headed towards one of the hundreds of counters dotting the airport. Spotting one such counter displaying the name of the airline he was about to catch he quickened his pace.

"BAM!"

He was shoved backwards as he collided heavily with someone. He stumbled backwards but quickly recovered as he looked up to deliver a stinging insult but was stopped as a piece of paper was shoved into his face.

"Mr. Hiragizawa?" a cool voice asked, "Or should I say the infamous 'Gentleman'?"

Eriol froze as he heard his assassin codename being spoken by a refined feminine voice.

"You may want to look at the paper," the voice continued as she handed the paper to him.

Eriol gently unfolded the paper and stared at it as fear and panic welled up inside his body. It was a fuzzy black and white image but the picture it presented was crystal-clear: him and Tomoyo on their first date inside the restaurant... right before he had tried to murder her but found out he simply couldn't.

"How?" he gasped, he looked up to stare at the brunette haired woman standing before her who was smirking at him with a smug look on her beautiful but cruel face, "How?"

"I work for Spinnel Corporation and I also have interested invested inside the Angels," she smirked, "Yes, I know all about the Angels and I also happen to know that Marcus Ruflac hired you to kill them. Now… think about how shocked he would be if he find out that the infamous Gentlemen was dating the enemy?"

"Marcus Ruflac is dead."

Lilia was mildly shocked by the revelation but rolled with the punches.

"But he was alive when this… 'date' happened," Lilia smiled at him, "Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe you have fallen in love with this particular Angel."

Eriol remained silent as he glared at Lilia, fury darkening his eyes.

"So I'm right and now think about how much damage this little news can cause to your reputation as a cold-hearted killer," Lilia laughed, "Imagine, Eriol Hiragizawa falling in love with his enemy."

"What the hell do you want?" Eriol snarled.

"Tut, tut," Lilia wagged a finger at him like a mother reprimanding her naughty child, "Such anger. But I'll cut to the chase, join my corporation in trying to get rid of the Angels or I leak this news to every single one of my associates and connections… and I assure you I have many."

Eriol remained silent as he realised with desperate anger that he was trapped. If his reputation was ruined there was no way in hell he would be able to get customers afterwards… but Tomoyo… could he try and kill her… again?

"So, do you accept?"

Seconds turned to eternal centuries as Eriol tried to come up with a viable solution. His livelihood or Tomoyo… if he was perceived as being soft then there was no telling what would happen to him. Other assassins wanting to make names for themselves would come after him… his life would be ruined… but still… could he do it? Could he try and kill the woman he had fallen so helplessly in love with?

"Oh and in case you're thinking of killing me I wouldn't suggest it," Lilia sniggered, "If I don't return to my office in fifteen minutes I have given instructions to some of most trusted minions to leak this image to the assassin underworld. So Mr. Hiragizawa, what is your answer? Do you accept my generous offer? If you succeed in killing the Angels you will be given a two hundred million fee as well as my solemn promise I would destroy all traces of this image."

"How can I trust you?" Eriol snarled trying to buy time as he continued to internally debate his options.

"You can't," Lilia said flatly with a wicked smile.

Lilia watched Eriol struggle with his decision with a mocking grin on her face as she glanced at her watch for dramatic effect.

"Tick tock, tick tock," she smirked, "Time's running out."

When Eriol spoke, his voice was broken and defeated.

"I accept."

"Welcome aboard then Mr. Hiragizawa," Lilia smirked triumphantly as she spoke sticking her hand out at the same time.

Eriol shook it slowly as Lilia glanced at her watch again.

"And with ten minutes to spare," she mused with satisfaction, "Come along. Let's get you briefed up on your task."

She brushed past the defeated assassin as Eriol wondered one last time what he had gotten himself into.

"I'm sorry Tomoyo," he whispered as he slowly turned around and plodded after Lilia.

Assassin and Spinnel Corporation employee left the airport together: one triumphant, the other utterly defeated.

* * *

"Hey, wait," Tomoyo called, "I've find something."

Sakura raced to the kitchen where Tomoyo was perched on top of a stool her laptop laid out on the marble bench in front of her. Tomoyo quickly typed in several keys enlarging what she was looking at and highlighting it.

"This," Tomoyo pointed, "Is a police report from the outskirst of Santa Barbara and there's also a hospital record from Santa Barbara hospital…"

"A hospital I know all too well," Sakura sighed remembering her stay in the hospital thanks to her coma.

She quietened down as she realised Tomoyo had more to say.

"Look."

Tomoyo turned the laptop around letting the screen face Sakura as the American Angel leaned in the soft light of the screen lighting up her face with eerie blue light.

"A young caucasian male found on the side of a highway. Probably aged in early twenties… light black hair…" Sakura move the mouse and clicked onto the hospital record, "Suffering from hyperthermia and dehydration, minor superficial injuries… bruises and cuts… scans and X-rays indicate no internal bleeding or head damage. Had to be sedated due to erratic behaviour when conscious…"

She read the next line and gasped her face turning ghastly pale.

"Says his wife is still missing and may be seriously injured," Sakura gulped as she looked up and stared at Tomoyo, "Are you sure it's him?"

Tomoyo shook her head.

"I can't be sure," she admitted, "But this is the only profile that fitted Zachary."

"I need to get there now!" Sakura said urgently jumping up.

"Sakura," Tomoyo began warningly, "Last time you went rushing off you ended up in a coma."

"I've got the cards to help me this time," Sakura protested, "I need to get to my friends right now!"

Tomoyo stood up as well.

"Sakura, you don't go! You don't even know if it's them."

"They could be in danger!" Sakura exploded.

Tomoyo sighed and tried a different tact.

"I know, I know but Sakura…" she pursed her lips as she searched for the right words, "When I peered into the mirror I not only saw the location of the third bok but it somehow… warned me that if we don't get the book soon the Void card would re-emerge… somehow there's a set date for when it would break out of the fourth book when the book can't hold the card any longer…"

Tomoyo paused as she stared unseeingly at bench.

"I'm afraid," she confessed softly, "The mirror showed me what damage that card could do… if it was ever set free. Sakura, we need to find the books. Now. If we don't…"

Sakura bit her lip.

"I just don't know what to do anymore," the American Angel admitted plopping herself down onto a stool, "I'm torn… I know the books and cards are important but Tomoyo… so are my friends. You know that."

Tomoyo nodded.

"It's hard but we've got to look at the bigger picture here," the Japanese Angel sighed, "This thing we're dealing with… it's bigger than us. It's bigger than friendships and family and all of that… if we fail in this…"

"Then the world is in for a hell of a time," Sakura finished off ever so eloquently.

"Hey," Meiling waltzed into the kitchen a goofy smile on her face no doubt thoroughly enjoying her reunion with Marcus, "What's with the gloominess?"

The two Angels stared at her as Meiling fidgeted nervously under their gaze shifting her weight from one foot to another.

"Is something wrong?"

* * *

"Is something wrong sir?" Lilia asked wondering why her boss had called her up to his office.

Mr. Noir was seated in his usual position behind his desk, darkness and shadows obscuring his figure as Lilia fidgeted nervously wondering what was going on. Deafening silence hung in the air between them as Lilia's heart began beating furiously like a wild beast slamming against her the cages of her ribs trying to smash free of its prison.

"I've received some disturbing news," her boss's gruff voice was deceivingly gentle.

Her heart upped its tempo as Lilia felt the first tingling edges of fear brush her mind. Sweat forced its way onto her pampered skin as she tried to taking in a calming breath but found she could not quell the fear rising in her body.

"What news?" her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I believe you've tried to kill Zachary Yamazaki."

Her eyes widened in horror as a soft gasp burst from her suddenly dry throat.

"Wha… how?" she gasped.

"Since you're not even trying to deny it I have no choice but to believe that it's true," Mr. Noir continued cutting her off.

"Sir! It's not! I swear! I haven't done anything at all!" Lilia cried.

"DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME!" her boss thundered suddenly.

An invisible force rammed into her body sending her sprawling as Lilia screamed in pain. It felt like her body was being battered with punishing blow as she writhed on the ground begging for mercy in a high pitched voice as her invisible tormentors continued to flay every part of her body. Every single nerve in her body screamed in agony as ghostly flames danced across her skin. She slapped at her body trying to put out the fire but to her horror find there was nothing there. Malicious chuckles filled the air as Mr. Noir enjoyed the show.

Lilia's piercing scream rended through the darkness as the pain intensified flooding through her mind and body like a roaring tsunami. Suddenly with no warning at all the pain stopped as her gasping breaths filled the air.

"Get out," Noir's voice was cold and calm, "You're fired."

Lilia staggered to her feet and ran as fast as she could out of the room as Noir watched her departing body calmly.

"She betrayed me," he said aloud, "I want her eliminated."

A slight movement in the shadows betrayed her presence as Rika Sasaki nodded.

"Do whatever it takes," Noir commanded, "I want her dead. Make an example of her."

Rika nodded again, her metal claws gleaming in the frugal light of the office.

* * *

"It's complicated," Meiling admitted.

Sitting inside Gino and Maria's restaurant on their second 'date', Meiling took a second sip of her wineglass before concentrating on the person sitting in front of her.

"How so dear?" Maria's kind voice asked.

Meiling shrugged.

"I'm lost," she whispered, "I'm confused… I mean… it wasn't like I was the most popular girl in school! I never dated… and… aside from Marcus… I've never been kissed before…"

She blushed as she realised what she had just said.

"Marcus is the first man… I've… well… you know…" she hedged for the proper term.

"Been intimate with?" Maria supplied.

Meiling nodded, her cheeks turning a flaming red.

"You mustn't worry," Maria patted her arm comfortingly as Meiling sighed.

"I'm just scared," she confessed softly, "This is the first relationship I've been in and I'm afraid I'll do something that'll push him away. I don't know what I'd do without him and… it scares me."

"You do know Marcus loves you right?" Maria asked.

Meiling nodded.

"And you love him right?"

Meiling nodded again.

"Then you're worrying for no reason at all you silly girl," Maria gave a motherly chuckle, "Love is all you need. You worry too much."

"It's confusing," Meiling whispered.

"Love is confusing," the older woman informed her gently, "Love isn't always flowers, chocolates and kissing. It can be rough as well, there will be times when you would want to strangle him but at the end of the day you'll still love him more than anything."

"What if he doesn't love me?" Meiling asked voicing her deepest fear.

Maria clucked her tongue.

"I've know Marcus for a long time," she smiled at her, "And I can safely say he hasn't been this happy for a very long time. Even a fool would realise that he's deeply in love with you. Why I wouldn't be surprised if you came waltzing in here next week with a ring around your finger!"

Meiling shifted nervously at the thought of marriage but pushed that fear away as she concentrated on Maria's motherly advice.

"Is he really that in love with me?" she asked worriedly.

Maria smiled at her.

"Definitely."

"Oh great," a familiar voice broke through the conversation as both women turned to look at the intruder, "Maria talking to Meiling. Should I be worried now?"

Maria laughed as she stood up and gave Marcus an affectionate kiss on the cheeks.

"I better get back to the kitchens or Gino will think that I ran away with a handsome young man," she said with a wicked wink, "Now you look after that girl or else!"

She disappeared as Meiling and Marcus dissolved into bursts of laughter.

"So what were you two beautiful ladies talking about?" Marcus asked slipping back into his seat.

Meiling flashed him an innocent smile.

"Absolutely nothing," she winked at him.

Marcus's arched brow clearly showed his scepticism as Meiling laughed.

"You know I feel bad leaving Lily with Tomoyo and Sakura… again," Meiling admitted.

"Don't," Marcus advised, "She loves spending time with her two 'aunties'."

"Still…"

"I'm starting to feel left out here," Marcus said teasingly, "Should I leave and have Tomoyo bring Lily here?"

Meiling rolled her eyes.

"Of course not," she reassured him, "I love spending time with you."

"I love you," Marcus said simply a soft smile on his lips.

"I love you too," Meiling smiled back at him as she felt her fears fade away.

This man loved her and she loved him.

That was all there was to it.

Nothing could stand in the way of their happiness.

Absolutely nothing.

* * *

Nivaline studied the mirror carefully.

"Yeah, this is definitely it," she handed the talisman back to Tomoyo, "100% authentic."

"Well, that's nice to know," Tomoyo said dryly, "I mean I would hate to have battled vamp-Me and her freaky army of vampires for nothing."

"Well, rest assured it wasn't all for nothing," Nivaline told her.

She looked around the strangely silent house.

"Where is everyone?" she asked wondering where the other Angels were.

"Meiling's out on a date with Marcus," Tomoyo informed her as she gently wrapped the talisman up in a sheet of soft velvet, "Lily's asleep and Sakura's gone back to her old apartment."

"You girls really should stick together," Nivaline said worriedly, "These are dangerous days."

"Don't worry," Tomoyo gently placed the mirror onto the kitchen bench, "She's just gone to get some clothes like Meiling did a while ago. I mean we can't be forever borrowing each others clothes."

Nivaline nodded, her hazel-green eyes still worried.

"So tell me about the vampires," she began, "What were they like?"

Remembering her ordeal in Taiwan, Tomoyo shivered but complied regaling Nivaline with a recount of their epic battle with the demonical creatures.

* * *

Sakura pushed open the door to her apartment and smiled seeing her home again. Trying to push the overwhelming fears she had for her friends to the back of her head, she quickly headed to her bedroom. Passing the living room, she was glad to note that the smashed window had been fixed thanks to Syaoran.

Satisfied that everything was in order she pushed the door to her bedroom open before flicking the lights on. Seeing the familiar room, she smiled softly as she grabbed a bag from under her bed and began shoving some of her clothes inside.

Quickly and efficiently she put the bare necessities into her bag before zipping it up and slinging the bag around her shoulder. Giving her room one last look, she flicked off the lights and closed the door before moving out into her living room. Noticing that the message light of her telephone was blinking urgently, she reached out with one hand to push the message button but stopped as frantic knocking hammered her front door.

Frowning in confusion, Sakura dropped her bag and moved to her door. Wondering who it could be and readying herself for a fight if necessary she flung the door open.

"You!" she snarled realising who was on the other side.

"STOP! PLEASE!" Lilia screamed raising her hands in surrender, "HELP ME!"

"Why the hell should I help you?" Sakura demanded.

"My boss knows I betrayed him… and trust me he isn't the forgiving type. He'll want me dead and he'll kill me slowly to make an example of me," Lilia explained hurriedly between gasping breaths and terrified glances behind her shoulder, "I need protection! Anything!"

"Why shouldn't I just let him kill you," Sakura paused before allowing a cold smile flit across her face, "Or kill you myself for that matter?"

"I can give you information!"

Sakura paused as she thought it over.

"How do I know you're not tricking me into a trap?" Sakura demanded glaring at her enemy, "How do I know that you're not using me to get to Zachary?"

"If I was trying to trick you I would send on my cronies to do it!" Lilia snarled, a bit of her usual arrogance coming back, "I wouldn't risk my own bloody neck!"

=Well that makes sense= Sakura thought dryly as she kept up her icy façade.

"Start talking," Sakura commanded coldly still eyeing the woman suspiciously, "Tell me everything you know about Spinnel Corporation or I'll leave you to fend for yourself."

"Not here," Lilia hissed looking around wildly, her face pale and her eyes wide with fear, "Take me somewhere safe! They probably know I'm here by now!"

"They?"

"Please!"

"Fine," Sakura ran back to her living room and grabbed her bag as Lilia waited nervously.

She grabbed the woman's arm and stirred her away from the doorway before closing the door and locking it. Pocketing the key, Sakura shouldered her bag and turned back to Lilia who was trembling with fright now, her eyes feverish as she stared at Sakura looking for all the world like a frightened little child.

"You're coming with me," Sakura commanded coldly grabbing onto the woman's arm again and leading her down to the car park.

* * *

Nivaline fell silent as she digested what Tomoyo had just told her.

"Damn," she said finally.

"Yeah, it definitely sucked when it had happened," Tomoyo paused, "No pun intended."

Nivaline rolled her eyes at the Angel's weak joke.

"And plus it was kinda creepy staking myself," the Japanese Angel continued, "But she's dead, the mirror is ours and everything is okay again."

"And you're one step closer to defeating the Void card."

"True."

Silence hung in the air between them as they stared at the velvet-wrapped mirror lying on the bench between them, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

"Nivaline," Tomoyo said suddenly breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" the older woman asked.

"We have a problem," Tomoyo admitted.

"Problem?" Nivaline's voice was instantly filled with concern, "Is everything all right?"

"It's not exactly us," Tomoyo sighed, "You know Zachary and Chelsea?"

"Yeah?"

"Sakura had a dream… she dreamt that they were in trouble and she wants to go racing off to find them," Tomoyo explained as she let out a small sigh, "I know we should all stick together in order to unravel this whole three books mess but I also know that it's very hard on Sakura to just sit here whilst friends may be in trouble."

"So you want me to investigate?" Nivaline asked with a small wry smile.

"Yeah," Tomoyo smiled at Nivaline's sharp intuition, "Pretty much."

"Done," Nivaline hopped off her stool, "Where should I start?"

"I tracked down someone fitting Zachary's description being admitted to Santa Barbara hospital."

"Good, I'll go there then," Nivaline turned to leave.

"Wait… you're leaving now?" Tomoyo asked incredulously.

"Well, no time like the present eh?" Nivaline shot the younger Angel a wicked smile, "Just tell Kiyone where I've gone. If I don't visit her tomorrow she'll think I've been killed or something."

Tomoyo followed the older woman to the door still slightly taken aback by the woman's readiness to go out in the middle of the night.

"Umm… shouldn't you wait till morning?" Tomoyo asked.

Nivaline turned and gave her a puzzled look.

"What for?" she asked confused, "The sooner I leave, the sooner I return."

Tomoyo could only stare as Nivaline gave her a final impish grin before hopping into the car Syaoran had supplied her with just days ago.

"See ya!" she gave her a jaunty wave before starting the engine and reversing out of Tomoyo's driveway.

The Japanese Angel could only give her a weak wave as the car pulled out of the driveway and sped along the road turning out of sight.

"She certainly doesn't like to procrastinate," Tomoyo noted dryly.

The cold night air chilled her skin as the Angel shrugged and walked back into the warm security of her house.

* * *

Meiling sighed as her mobile phone began ringing ruining the romantic atmosphere with its annoyingly cheerful ring tone.

"This better be important," she snarled as she yanked the phone out of her purse and put it to her ears.

"Meiling here," she said curtly.

_'Meiling, I'm really, really, really sorry!' _Sakura's voice came over the line as Meiling sighed, _'I know you're on a date and all but I've got some news.'_

"This better be good," Meiling hissed warningly.

'Lilia appeared at my door.'

"WHAT?!?" Meiling gasped startling Marcus as her anger completely dissipated, "Are you okay? What did she do?"

'She wants our help… in exchange for information.'

"What?" Meiling was completely astounded, "Why?"

'Apparently her boss wants her dead because she tried to betray him. I'm guessing employee loyalty is a big thing in good old Spinnel Co,' Sakura added dryly.

"Where are you?" Meiling demanded.

'Safehouse. If you can get away try to get here as soon as possible,' Sakura told her, 'Oh, by the way how's your date?'

"Superb," Meiling paused, "Until you called me."

'Sorry!' With that Sakura hung as up as Meiling sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Something wrong?" Marcus asked worriedly.

Meiling looked up into his concerned eyes and forced a smile onto her face.

"Oh something just came up," she took a deep breath, "Okay, this may seem really sudden and all but I've got to go."

"Okay, I know I maybe boring at times but am I really that bad you can't wait to get away?" Marcus asked a hurt look on his face.

Meiling stared at him as Marcus stared back at her.

An amused grin split his face as the hurt look faded away.

"I'm kidding," he reassured her giving her an easy grin, "If you need to go, go."

Meiling sent him a grateful grin as she jumped out of her seat.

"I swear this will never happen again," Meiling promised as she gave him a quick passionate kiss before running out of the restaurant.

Several minutes later Maria appeared.

"Where is she?" the Italian woman asked looking around.

"Gone," Marcus said easily.

"Gone?" Maria asked confused.

"Work."

"What exactly does she do?" Maria asked curiously.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Marcus teased.

Maria rolled her eyes.

"And satisfaction brought it back," she retorted, "So you do love her?"

Marcus took Maria's directness in his stride as he smiled and nodded.

"With all my heart," he admitted softly.

"Lovely!" a wide grin spread across Maria's face, "You can have the reception here!"

Marcus laughed at his old friend's statement as Maria grinned back at him, thankful that her 'dear boy' (as she called him sometimes) had found love again.

"Shouldn't I propose to her before you start planning the wedding?" Marcus asked teasingly.

"Then hurry up and do it," Maria urged, "You of all people should know that you must seize the day. You never know what might happen next."

Marcus nodded thoughtfully as he fell silent seriously considering Maria's words.

Should he… or shouldn't he?

* * *

Tomoyo flung the door to the safehouse open as she strolled inside hurriedly.

"Sakura?"

"Tomoyo!" Sakura appeared out of one of the rooms of the safehouse as she greeted her fellow Angel.

"Where the hell is she?" Tomoyo demanded.

A cold look appeared in Sakura's eyes as she jerked her head towards the room she had just appeared from.

"In there," she muttered.

"Sakura, Nivaline is currently travelling to Santa Barbara to check out that hospital record I dug up this morning," Tomoyo informed her.

"Nivaline?" Sakura asked puzzled.

"I told her what happened and she agreed to go."

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as she felt some of the fears and worries she had for her friends abate slightly in her mind.

"Thanks," she told her friend softly smiling gratefully at her.

Tomoyo returned the smile before getting straight back to business.

"Where's Meiling?" Tomoyo asked looking around.

"I called her but you know second date," Sakura shrugged, "I don't know if she's coming or not."

"Well, she's here."

Both girls jumped as Meiling's voice boomed from behind them. They whirled around as Meiling delicately arched an eyebrow at them tapping the floor impatiently with her left foot.

"Don't do that!" Sakura muttered, "Jeez, you scared me."

Meiling rolled her eyes as Sakura and Tomoyo calmed down.

"Where is she?"

"In there."

"Good," Meiling smiled fiercely, "I'm looking forward to having a little conversation with Ms. Faren."

She cracked her knuckles in anticipation before stomping into the room as Tomoyo and Sakura looked at each other.

"We better get in there," Tomoyo suggested, "Before Meiling kills her."

Sakura made no move to walk into the room.

With a sigh of exasperation, Tomoyo pushed the American Angel into the room as Lilia stared at them defiantly.

"Well, if it isn't the Angels," she spat her arrogance fully back in place.

"You know for someone who's a wanted woman you're awfully up yourself," Meiling growled, "Especially considering the fact you're annoying the very people who's standing between you and evisceration by your dear boss."

That caused Lilia to back off a little as Tomoyo and Sakura joined Meiling.

"Who exactly is your boss?" Tomoyo demanded coldly.

"I've never seen his face," Lilia said shortly, "His office is always dark. I only know his name. He's called Mr. Noir."

"Mr. Black," Sakura muttered translating the French name.

"Oooo… you can speak multiple languages," Lilia smirked, "Good for you."

Meiling shot her a death glare as Lilia quietened down sensing she was pushing the dark-haired Angel to her limits.

"What exactly did you do to annoy your boss so much?" Tomoyo continued, spearing Lilia with her icy stare.

"I hired an assassin to have Zachary killed."

"You!" Sakura lunged at her as Meiling leapt at her.

Tomoyo grabbed her friend's struggling arms as Meiling tried to stop her friend from strangling Lilia.

The woman visibly paled as Sakura continued to snarl at her, bloodlust lighting up her emerald eyes.

"SAKURA! CHILL!" Tomoyo yelled yanking her friend backwards.

Sakura calmed down slightly before continued to glower at Lilia as Meiling breathed a sigh of relief not enjoying wrestling against a fury fuelled Sakura.

"If Zachary or Chelsea is harmed. I'll kill you," Sakura spat.

Lilia gulped as Tomoyo hoped for Lilia's sake they were both okay.

"Why do Noir want the books?" Meiling demanded taking up the role of interrogator.

Her ruby eyes drilled into Lilia's as the woman shrugged.

"Money?" Lilia suggested, "I don't know! Nobody knows!"

"She's not any help," Sakura said abruptly, "I say we tie her up and deliver her to Noir."

Lilia paled as Sakura sent her a vicious grin showing way too much teeth for comfort.

"Not until we're done with her," Meiling promised, "So Lilia, how do we get to Noir?"

Lilia snorted.  
"You'll have to infiltrate Spinnel Corporation headquarters in order to do that," Lilia sneered, "And I doubt…"

"Been there, bombed that," Sakura smirked back.

Lilia narrowed her eyes at the American Angel as Sakura stared right back at her, her emerald eyes becoming chips of green ice.

"Well, it would be much harder this time around," Lilia snapped, "Thanks to your little stunt, security has been boosted up. You will find it is completely im…"

"BOOM!"  
All three Angels whirled around as an explosion rocked the safehouse.

"What the hell?"

The sound of hard boots ramming into wooden floor alerted the Angels as Lilia paled.

"Oh god, the Special Task Force," she whispered.

"Alpha, Beta and Delta?" Meiling asked remembering her encounter with them in Paris.

"Get her," Sakura commanded, "I'll handle these idiots."

"You think you can take on the Special Task Force?!?" Lilia gasped incredulously, "They're highly trained men…"

"Who I've beaten two times before so," Sakura smiled, "This should be fun."

Meiling grabbed Lilia as Tomoyo opened the door cautiously. The hallway was eerily dark and quiet, the air strangely thick with dust as Tomoyo glanced around trying to see through the shadows.

"It seems clear," she reported sticking her head back into the room.

"Okay, go!" Sakura yelled.

Tomoyo yanked the door open as Meiling grabbed Lilia and dragged her out of the room, the woman trying to keep up as the Angels rushed to the backdoor of the safehouse.

"I've sighted the target!" a harsh voice cried piercing through the dust-filled darkness, "North-western corridor!"

"Damn!" Meiling swore.

Bullets tore the walls as the Angels and Lilia ducked.

"GO!" Sakura yelled.

Meiling and Tomoyo continued herding Lilia towards the back entrance as Sakura slowly turned around.

"Key of stars with powers burning bright," she whispered her hand going up to her key, "Reveal the staff and shine your light! RELEASE!"

The star wand appeared in her hands as Sakura held it aloft.

"Light card!" she bellowed, "Illuminate this place! Release and displace!"

She looked away as bright light burst from the card illuminating the hall. Heavily armed, Kevlar-wearing men screamed in pain as the light interfered with their night-vision goggles blinding them. They fell to the ground as Sakura smirked.

"Snow card!" she cried, "Rain card! Cloud card! Attack! Release and dispel!"

A spectral woman clad in a traditional kimono burst from one of the cards as two puffs of cloud joined her. The Special Task Force had no time to react as a tempest of snow, rain and wind lashed at them forcing them backwards.

"Full power!" Sakura bellowed fiercely.

* * *

"The power has been cut off from the building sir."

The commander nodded as the commando moved away.

"Surround the perimeter," he commanded yelling into his com-link, "I don't want anyone getting in or out without us knowing!"

"Sir!" a panicked cry broke into his conversation as the commander snarled in annoyance.

"WHAT!"

"WHOOSH!"

A massive wave of snow burst from the ruined doorway of the safehouse as the commander's eyes widened in shock.

The front yard of the safehouse was turned into a winter wonderland as snow piled on top of the cars and commandos standing on the lawn. Rain lashed down from the skies, freezing instantly as soon as they touched the snow forming an impenetrable armour of ice as cold rushed into the commander's body piercing his body with icy needles.

Still he forced himself to concentrate as he tried to speak into his com-link.

"Retreat," he whispered weakly as the cold threatened to overwhelm his body, "Retre…"

His body shut down as his temperature plummeted and everything went black.

* * *

Sakura turned away from the veritable snowstorm she had created and calmly walked towards the backdoor, the Clow spirits trailing behind her like well-trained dogs.

=Mistress=

Sakura turned to the Snow card, instinctively knowing where the voice had come from.

=There are more men in the backyard= the Snow card warned her =Your friends are trapped=

"God damn it!" Sakura hissed, "How many of them are there?"

She raced for the backdoor and burst into the backyard as the Clow cards sped to follow. A ring of dark coloured vans had rammed through the back fence forming a solid wall of metal and glass, armed men hiding behind the cars their guns trained on the Angels and Lilia.

"SNOW CARD! GET THEM!"  
A burst of frosty wind howled through the yard and blasted one of the vans encasing it in a solid block of ice. Stinging rain arrowed down from the skies distracting the commandos as wisps of cloud emerged from thin air obscuring the men's vision.

"GO!" Sakura yelled running to her friends, "Get out of here!"

The clouds were everywhere turning a dark grey as they rumbled dangerously with thunder, Sakura ran smack bang into one of her friends as she struggled through the blanket of white wisps. She grabbed her friend's arm and ran wildly towards the ring of cars catching a glimpse of the dark van through the cloud just in time for her to avoid it. She slipped through a narrow gap between two vans and charged straight over the broken fence the vans had charged through to invade the safehouse.

Suddenly she was free of the clouds as she breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to her fellow Angel.

She stopped.

It was Lilia.

* * *

"Where the hell is Sakura?" Meiling demanded.

Tomoyo shrugged.

"I don't know," the Japanese Angel reached into her pocket and pulled out her mobile phone as she punched in her friend's familiar number, "But I'm going to find out."

They continued running down the street as Tomoyo waited impatiently for Sakura to pick up.

"Come on," she growled, "Pick up damn it!"

'Tomoyo!'

"Sakura! Are you okay?"

'Fine, you guys.'

"Good," Tomoyo turned into an inner street as Meiling led the way, "Where are you?"

'Street behind the safehouse.'

"Wait, we'll come to you."

They skidded to a stop as a dark van pulled out from one of the streets cutting them off. Without even bothering to stop, they whirled around and ducked into another inner street as the van door slid open commandos pouring out from the vehicle.

"Scrap that. Sakura, meet us in the warehouse. The usual one, okay?"

'Alright, see you there.'

"Is Lilia with you?"

'Unfortunately.'

Tomoyo nodded grimly as she hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket.

"She's with Lilia. We're heading straight to the warehouse."

Meiling nodded as the commandos continued to pursue them through the labyrinth of inner streets.

* * *

"Mr. Hiragizawa."

Eriol remained silent as he stood inside the dark office as his new boss.

"It seems Ms. Faren has betrayed me by going to those… Angels," Mr. Noir said carefully.

"What do you want me to do?" Eriol demanded.

"Tut, tut, such temper," the mysterious man sneered, "I want you to prove yourself or else your little secret will become very public."

"How?" Eriol snarled.

"Kill her."

"Who?"

"Lilia Faren."

Eriol didn't even pause before he replied.

"Done."

* * *

Sakura and Lilia ran down the streets, Sakura's star wand already retracted back to its key form as to not hamper her running. Lilia was gasping and puffing beside her as Sakura half-dragged the woman down the street, the Spinnel Corporation worker's high heels obviously not helping.

"Hurry up!" Sakura snapped, "Or you're dead!"

Lilia only sobbed in reply as Sakura gritted her teeth and continued to drag the woman along.

"Phwup! Phwup! Phwup!"

"What the?"

With no warning at all the whole area was flooded with light as Sakura looked up in surprise as strong gusts of wind swept through her hair. A black helicopter hung in the night sky its immense floodlight glaring down at them as Sakura swore.

She turned to move into an inner street.

"Watch out!" Lilia shrieked.

A black shadow leapt out as Sakura pushed Lilia to the ground, metal claws swiping the air where the woman had been.

"Rika!" Sakura gasped.

The clawed assassin leapt at her as Sakura met her head on. Light reflected off the killer's claws as Sakura ducked to avoid her wild swipes, punching the assassin in the stomach she followed through an uppercut. Rika was thrown backwards but recovered quickly pouncing on her like a dark panther. Sakura sidestepped the assassin's swipes elbowing her in the face as the assassin charged past.

"I don't have time for this," Sakura hissed as Rika whirled around.

A swift kick caught Sakura in the knees forcing her to her knees as Rika came at her with an overhead strike. Sakura leapt to the side as the assassins swiped at her barely missing her body by mere inches, the Angel leapt up and kicked Rika in the chest. The assassin recovered quickly coming at her with a flurry of wild swipes as Sakura hurriedly backpedalled narrowly missing the vicious slashes.

A flash of cold metallic light warned her of the next strike as Sakura twisted her body, the claws slicing through the air where her arm had been.

A second flash told Sakura to sidestep as Rika blinked, the only outward display of her emotions, as Sakura looked desperately for an opening in the assassin's defence knowing that sooner or lately Rika would land a lucky blow.

Between the split second when Rika's left arm dropped as her right arm came up in another wild slash Sakura struck, a powerful right hook throwing Rika off balance before a spin-kick struck her in the chest throwing her backwards. Sakura danced away from Rika's reaches as the assassin staggered to her feet.

"Come on Catwoman," Sakura jeered, "Catch me if you can."

Blank eyes stared into emerald ones as Lilia tried to meld into the shadows trying her best to avoid the column of light that blasted down from the helicopter above. It hung in the sky observing the fight below like a hovering dark falcon ready to strike at any second.

Even though the mechanical whirring of the rotors were almost deafening at such close proximities and the wild winds they generated were buffeting her body, Sakura forced herself to concentrate as Rika feinted a left then a right before leaping at her.  
Sakura shifted all her defences quickly meeting Rika's blows. She grabbed the clawed assassin's wrist halting one blow before kicking the other arm away. Still trapping one arm, Sakura used her free hand to throw a quick one-two combination to Rika's chest then face. The assassin had taken a lot of blows but she was far from beaten. A vicious backhand twirled Sakura around, a thin bleeding line torn across her cheeks. Not giving the Angel any time to whirl around and face her again, Rika leapt at Sakura's back claws gleaming in the light. Gasping in pain, Sakura blocked the next blow with her elbow relying on pure instinct since her back was still facing the assassin. Her other elbow shot out and slammed into Rika's right arm blocking the strike before leaping into a perfect back flip Rika's claws raking the air narrowly missing her spinning body. Sakura landed delicately before shoving Rika violently away thanks to a spinning roundhouse kick that caught the assassin in the chest.

Rika recovered quickly and lunged at her again.

Sakura gritted her teeth as she steeled herself for the second round of this deadly duel.

Rika crashed into her and the fight was on.

* * *

The roar of motors was the first sign.

Then the powerful glow of multiple headlights appeared.

It was official.

They were stuffed.

"Motorbikes?!?" Meiling managed to splutter between gasping breaths, "Damn it! This is so unfair!"

"Stop it with the tantrums," Tomoyo ordered, "Men. Bikes. Let's deal with that first."

She looked at her friend's attire.

"And somehow I don't think that's appropriate for fighting," she said flatly.

Meiling looked down at herself.

"This?" she snorted still running as fast as she could, "No problem."

She gripped the hemline of her red dress and ripped down tearing the fabric easily. Tomoyo stared as Meiling pulled the tattered fabric away from her body revealing the skin-tight black bodysuit she wore underneath.

"Always be prepared," Meiling smirked with a wicked wink as she threw her ruin dress away.

With the restricting dress gone Meiling's speed quickened as Tomoyo fought to catch up.

"Okay, girl scout," Tomoyo muttered, "But that's not going to help us. I mean they're on bikes and all."

"Fight or flight?"

Tomoyo's wicked grin was her only answer as Meiling stopped and whirled around ready to face the incoming danger.

"Ready?" she asked.

"As I'll ever be."

A phalanx of dark motorbikes roared down the desolate alleyway as the Angels tensed. Piercing beams of light exposed them as the pack shifted each of the machines intent on mowing them and spraying the sidewalk with their blood.

They came, closer and closer, roaring like one-eyed dragons as the Angels leapt into action. Meiling performed a perfect somersault in the air vaulting over the squadron of motorbikes. She lashed out in midair with her right foot and caught one man just below his helmet drawing a choked scream from him as he sailed over the back of his bike hitting the gravel hard and rolling over a few times before coming to a groaning halt. His bike veered off to the right narrowly missing another before it fell to the ground its wheels still spinning, its motor still running.

Meiling landed delicately and watched as Tomoyo took a different approach. She neatly sidestepped a charging bike giving the rider a powerful kick to his exposed back as he sped past before whirling around to meet the next incoming bike. She leap-frogged over him slamming her feet into his back as she sailed past, using the man's back she pushed off gaining extra momentum as she flew right into the next biker tackling him high around the neck bringing both of them down onto the hard ground landing in a snarl of limbs and gasping breaths.

Springing free from the tangle Tomoyo leapt up giving the man one final kick in the ribs as she whirled around and surveyed the damage she has caused. Spotting the bike she had just tackled her victim off, she ran over to it, picking it up and leaping on. Gunning the engine she sped off after the pack of motorbikes that had just tried to take them out.

"Coming?" Tomoyo yelled as she flew past her fellow Angel.

Meiling flashed her a thumbs up as she leapt onto the bike she had taken off her own opponent. She sped after Tomoyo as the platoon of enemies fishtailed around, engines revving up and ready to go.

"CHARGE!!!!" Meiling screamed exuberantly as a cold ruthless smile settled over Tomoyo's face.

Acrid smoke poured into the air weaving a bitter veil around the combatants as they sped straight at each other. Meiling let out another fierce yell as Tomoyo smirked, a plan formulating in her head. With no warning at all, she hit the brakes the engine roaring in protest at the sudden shift in speed. The bike jolted as Tomoyo's inertia flung her forwards towards the first row of bikers she twisted in midair landing a spinning kick to the first biker. He was hurled backwards flying straight over the back of his bike colliding with the man behind him as Tomoyo flipped in midair and miraculously landed right onto the seat of the now empty bike. She perched on top of the moving bike as the bikers started up at her in surprise. She leapt to her left kicking one biker down with a powerful crescent kick to the side. He fell taking his bike down with him as Tomoyo's foot hit the side of the machine. She pushed herself off hopscotching to the next bike and applied the same strategy taking him out with a powerful kick before hopscotching from his bike to her next victim.

She threw a quick glance to check her teammate's progress and smirked as she saw what Meiling was doing. Sparks flew at metal grinded against pavement, somehow the Asian Angel's had fallen on its side and was now skidding along the road with Meiling perched on top of it looking for all the world like a surfer riding a dangerous wave.

She threw herself into a spinning kick taking out one rider before performing a nimble flip in midair. She landed onto the pavement, arms flung upwards as though she was an Olympic gymnast going for gold. She even gave a delicate bow as a wicked smirk spread across her face.

"Nice," Tomoyo noted yelling over the roar of motors and pained grunts as she kicked another man off his bike, "Perfect ten!"

Meiling smiled at her as she calmly walked over to the man she had just knocked out and yanked his helmet off. Weighing the thing in her hand, she sighted and threw it putting all her power before the throw. It stuck one rider in the chest startling him into losing control, his bike swerved sharply to the left crashing into one of his fellow riders as both went down in a cascade of shattered glass and twisted metal. Tomoyo kicked the last rider away as she landed onto pavement nimbly leaping off the last bike.

The two Angels looked around at the mayhem they had caused; several of the riders were coming to moaning quietly in pain as others remained out cold. Bikes was strewn all over the road, motors still running, smoke still belching out from their exhaust bikes. Their headlights were still on illuminating the damage around them.

"Record time?" Meiling asked casually.

"World record," Tomoyo confirmed.

The two Angels smirked at each other as they picked up two of the bikes and righted them. Hopping on, they gunned the engine and sped off away from the scene.

"How far to the warehouse?" Meiling yelled to her friend.

"Four blocks!" Tomoyo shouted back.

Meiling nodded and opened her mouth to ask another question but was rudely interrupted as loud honk ripped through the night air. Both girls braked hurriedly the screeching of their tyres combating with the noise of the honk for dominance.

"What the…" Tomoyo whispered.

Multiple headlights punched through the darkness exposing the two girls as a huge black sixteen-wheel truck roared down the narrow street. The two Angels took one look at the black tinted windows of the truck and gulped.

"RUNNNN!!!" Meiling yelled as another honk ripped through the air.

They gunned their engines as the truck shot straight at them.

* * *

Mr. Noir, the esteemed and mysterious boss of Spinnel Corporation, hissed in frustration as he felt the continuing beating of Lilia's traitorous heart.

"Fools," he snarled clenching his fist cursing the idiots that worked for him, "Can't even handle a single woman."

He sat back in his chair as he slowly held his hands up in front of him, cupping the two palms together.

"Looks like I have to do things myself," he whispered.

A string of harsh and ancient arcane words forged by a long-dead civilisation spilled from his lips, they resonated in the dark room, each sound amplified ten fold as though the shadows were hiding an army of demons that growled and roared with bestial rage.

A single seed of light sparked hovering above his palms. Dark bolts of energy crackled around the swirling orb of fire and light; yellow, scarlet, red and black fusing together in a chaotic kaleidoscope. The seed grew as the flames became hotter and hotter, wisps of white smokes danced in the shadows like ethereal spirits as Noir's voice became louder and louder each word becoming more guttural and terrifying. A sudden gale of howling wind swept through the room as Noir's voice roared over the sound of the winds.

The chant reached its pinnacle volume as the ball of flames swelled to enormous proportions.

"BEGONE!" Noir roared.

The ball of fire unleashed a flash of blinding light as it seemed to fold in on itself. Smaller and smaller the fire went until it was just a single dot of light in the darkness and than it simply winked out of existence as the winds calmed down. A chilling smile appeared on Noir's face as he stretched his arms.

"And that's how you get things done."

* * *

"Get in, get out, get it done," Nivaline reminded herself as she walked into Santa Barbara Hospital.

She pasted a warm smile on her face as she walked up to the reception desk.

"Hello, I'm some of a friend of a friends," she introduced herself to the bored-looking young man sitting at the desk, "My friend's away on vacation and I'm kind of house-sitting. I just heard that someone she knows was sent here and I just wanted to make sure he's alright… can I please see him?"

"Visiting hours are over," the man told her flatly without looking up from the magazine he was looking at.

Nivaline resisted the urge to grab the back of the boy's head and ram it onto the surface of the desk. She was pretty sure it would be hard to get rid of the blood from the pretty wooden surface… instead she forced herself to inject a bit of wheedling into her voice.

"It's really urgent."

Sensing that she wasn't going to give up soon, the boy sighed and put down his magazine.

"Name?" he asked sounded bored.

"I think its Yamazaki," Nivaline said after a short pause still playing the part of a clueless friend.

The boy typed the name into the computer and waited for a few seconds.

"Sorry," he said, "Nothing."

And then he picked up his magazine and started reading again ignoring Nivaline completely. The former Angel gritted her teeth and curbed her sudden urge to pound the idiot's head in before taking in several deep calming meditative breaths. Without even bothering to glance at the boy at the desk, she strolled confidentially towards the door leading towards the rest of the hospital.

"Hey!" that caught the boy's attention, "You can't go in there! Visiting hours are over."

"Frankly my dear," Nivaline shot him a wicked grin as her voice shifted into a southern drawl, "I don't give a damn."

And with all the majestic grace of a queen she swanned into the hospital wards.

* * *

"Damn it!"

Sakura spun Rika around and rammed the assassin into the wall. She ripped her backwards and slammed her against it again and tried for a third time. Instantly Rika's legs shot out and braced herself against the wall, she nimbly back-flipped out of Sakura's grip and sent the Angel stumbling with a spinning snap kick. Sakura was hurled against the rough bricks of the wall but recovered quickly jumping out of the way as metal claws spliced the air hitting the wall with a loud clang.

She kicked Rika away and charged at her, the assassin met her attack front on the two fighters throwing themselves at each other. Rika landed a backhand that rattled Sakura's jaws as Sakura fought back with a quick one-two punch. She threw another haymaker at Rika but the assassin blocked it with her arm kicking Sakura in the chest. The American Angel grimaced in pain but grabbed Rika's arm and tossed her again into the wall.

"What the hell?!?" Lilia's high-pitched screech of horror and shock somehow managed to be heard over the roar of the helicopter ahead as Sakura's risked a quick glance at her.

The former Spinnel employee was looking upwards, a look of disbelief plastered on her suddenly pale face. Sakura glanced up and gasped seeing the night sky. It had turned an ominous blood red and as she watched a section of the sky seemed to bulge as though something was pressed up against it, as though something was trying to punch through. The red intensified as the bulge got bigger and bigger its bulk dragging it downwards to towards the earth, the air seemingly transforming into a viscid liquid. The red light pulsed synchronising itself with the hammering of Sakura's hear as with each beat the light got brighter and brighter slowly shifting from red to orange and finally to yellow. Small tongues of flames began piercing the thick shadows instantly exploding into a raging inferno forming a sheath of fire around the dark liquid the air had become. The ball of liquid shadows and burning flames continued to plummet from the distorted sky connected together by a thin singular thread of shadowy darkness.

And then it snapped, the ball of fire and shadow picking up momentum as the now detached thread of darkness snapped back up into the sky causing it to tremble and revert back into its normal state. Stars once again glittered against the dark canvas as the fireball shot down towards them. It neatly clipped the tail of the helicopter, flames instantly transferring themselves onto the machine racing across the metal in the blink of an eye.

"BOOM!"

In less than a second the flames reached the fuel tank and whole helicopter exploded in mid-air showering molten metal and glass onto the people beneath. Sakura hissed in pain as a shard of heated glass sliced her arm but she had no time to dwell upon it as the ball of fire continued to fall towards them, so close now she can feel its awesome heat.

"Damn!" Sakura raced toward Lilia as the woman continued to gape at the flaming orb, "GET OUT OF HERE!"

She raced towards Lilia determined to get the woman away but was tackled from behind. Rika landed on top of her in a sprawl of limbs as the ball of fire overhead continued its controlled descent only seconds away from incinerating all of them.

"DAMN IT!"

* * *

"Damn it," Nivaline growled realising she was horribly lost, "Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it."

"Excuse me? Do you need something?"

Nivaline whirled around and was greeted with a pair of questioning amber eyes. Long curly tresses of glowing violet hair framed the young woman's oval face, a small smile flitting across her soft pink lips.

"Yes!" Nivaline flashed her a brilliant beam as she kept up her act of a clueless friend, "I'm looking for someone actually."

"A patient?"

"Yes!"

The woman frowned as Nivaline glanced at the woman's nametag. The tag proudly displayed the words Doctor Helen Bruck for all the world to see so Nivaline assumed that was her name or perhaps she was impostor or something… her hazel-green eyes flicked back to the doctor's face.

"Well, visiting hours are over…" Doctor Bruck began.

Nivaline resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

=What's up with this bloody visiting hour thing?= she wondered wearily as the doctor continued to silently debate with herself.

"Name?"

Nivaline genuinely smiled in relief.

"Umm… I think its… Zachary Yamazaki."

Helen's smile immediately vanished.

"Oh."

"Oh what?"

"Come with me," Helen gestured.

She led Nivaline down the sterile hallway as the former Angel frowned in confusion at Helen's abrupt change of mood. Shrugging she followed the doctor as she led her into a ward.

"He's in there," Helens sighed, "There's some bad news though."

"What? Is something wrong?" Nivaline asked worriedly.

Helen nodded gravely.

"A woman… I think his wife… was killed. Sh… she… was shot."

Nivaline froze, her eyes widening with shock as a choked gasp managed to escape from her throat.

"Oh god," she whispered ashen-faced.

Helen nodded sadly.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, "I'm really sorry. Whoever killed her was a good shot, she died instantly if that's some reassurance… she… she didn't suffer."

She left Nivaline standing there stunned in the doorway of Zachary's room. She took a deep breath and steeled herself as she strolled into dim light of the hospital ward.

"Zachary?" she said softly.

"Damn," a familiar voice growled, "Busted."

"What the?" Nivaline's hand shot out, "GUANG!"

A ball of energy instantly manifested itself blazing with white light, the shadows faded as a familiar figure turned around and smirked at her.

"Hey, what's shaking Angel girl?" Psuedo-Sakura smirked.

"Get away from him!" Nivaline commanded, her voice icy cold.

"Oh, him," Psuedo-Sakura reached out with a gentle hand and tenderly stroked Zachary's cheek.

The young man was lying on a typically pristine hospital bed, a starchy white sheet draped across his still form. Several bruises and cuts adorned his face but overall he didn't look badly injured.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Nivaline spat.

"My job," Psuedo-Sakura slowly sashayed away from the bed as Nivaline followed her movements across the room.

"Boo!" Psuedo-Sakura made a small jump towards her as Nivaline hurriedly backed away, "Scared ya!"

"Yue sent you?"

"Aha," the doppelganger nodded.

"Bastard," Nivaline spat.

"Language Nivaline," Psuedo-Sakura taunted, "There are little boys around, little boys that might get hurt."

"And I know some naughty girls that might get hurt as well," Nivaline leapt at Psuedo-Sakura as the doppelganger smirked.

"Finally!"

The first punch caused Psuedo-Sakura's head to snap back, the second causing her to keel over in pain. Nivaline kneed her in the face as the doppelganger growled in pain.

"Ow!" she screamed kicking the former Angel away.

=That hurt= Nivaline grimaced as she backed away wearily making sure to keep Zachary's bed behind her as Psuedo-Sakura grinned at her revealing two rows of pearly white teeth.

"Come on Nivaline, you have to fight harder than that!" she taunted.

Before Nivaline could answer, Psuedo-Sakura was already in movement. Acting on years of training and pure instinct, Nivaline's had shot out and absorbed one of Psuedo-Sakura's blows as she blocked the other with her arm. She kicked the doppelganger in the knees drawing out a hiss of pain from her as she spun around and kicked her away with a deft kick to the chest.

"Hard enough for you?" Nivaline asked arching an eyebrow delicately.

"I'm not finished yet."

"Oh, really?"

Psuedo-Sakura snarled at her and the real fight began.

* * *

Sakura head-butted Rika as she risked a quick glance above the fireball was almost upon them. She had to get away soon or they would all be dead.

"Listen to me!" Sakura snarled trying to get through to the silent assassin, "If you don't stop this we'll soon be dead!"

The only reply was Rika's foot slamming into her shoulder jarring her whole body. Sakura gasped in pain but recovered quickly hitting Rika's chin with an open palm.

"Stop it!"

* * *

"Stop it!" Psuedo-Sakura screamed.

"Oh, boo-hoo," Nivaline shot back.

Their fight had progressed out onto the hallway, the two combatants trading blows with deadly force. Nivaline spun away from the doppelganger as her fist punched into the wall creating a nice dent into the plaster.

"Stand still!" Psuedo-Sakura bellowed, her face red with frustration.

"Make me," Nivaline shot back.

Psuedo-Sakura's only reply was a mindless roar of frustrated rage.

* * *

Sakura was seconds away from screaming in rage.

She deflected Rika's punch but was caught off guard by a crescent kick that sent her skidding across the hard surface of the pavement. She landed amidst the still flaming debris of the destroyed helicopter gasping for breath she tried to get up but winced as pain roared through her whole body.

"Ow," she moaned.

A hard heel slammed into her stomach driving the air from her body as Sakura's head fell backwards striking the hard ground. Wincing in pain she looked up and saw Rika's emotionless face and beyond that the great flaming comet of death that threatened to annihilate all of them.

"Damn it."

She glanced to her right hoping to find a weapon of some sort… nothing.

She glanced to her left.

And saw a piece of glass.

* * *

Nivaline's kick propelled Psuedo-Sakura towards the door, the locking mechanism shattering under the doppelganger's weight. Another kick sent the door and Psuedo-Sakura flying, the doppelganger landed in a cascade of shattered glass and different coloured liquids.

Nivaline glanced around and realised they must have entered a supply room of some sort but had no time to dwell on it as Psuedo-Sakura staggered to her feet.

"Bitch!" she roared, her hands snaking out with blinding speed to grab something from one of the shelves that lined the walls of the tiny room. She hurled it at Nivaline as the former Angel's eyes widened in shock. Instinctively her hand shot out and caught the thin metal handle of the scalpel Psuedo-Sakura had just hurled at her. Without a thought she hurled it straight back at Psuedo-Sakura, the doppelganger deflecting the spinning blade with her arm ignoring the thin red bleeding line that the razor edge ripped across her skin.

"You think you can stop me!" Psuedo-Sakura grabbed something else from shelve and clutched it up high, "I will crush you! Just like this!"

With a roar of rage, she exerted her immense strength onto the glass jar. Immediately fractures raced across the smooth surface as Nivaline watched on, the jar shattered drenching the doppelganger with the liquid inside as glass shards sprayed everywhere. One particularly large piece hit the ground and bounced once coming to a rest at Nivaline's feet, the former Angel glanced down and smiled.

She saw what was on the glass.

* * *

Sakura's hand shot out and grabbed the long jagged piece of glass and before Rika could react stabbed the assassin with the leg, the pointed edge driving into her flesh. The assassin's head snapped back in a silent scream as Sakura kicked the assassin off her, jumping up she sprinted towards Lilia.

"HURRY!" she yelled as Rika writhed on the ground with pain, "GET OUT OF HERE!"

She grabbed Lilia and propelled her forwards as the fireball crashed into the ground. An explosion of light and flames lit the night sky, concussive waves crashing into the nearby buildings causing several to collapse. Ironically enough it was these waves that saved Sakura and Lilia from the flames shoving them forwards away from danger. They hit the ground and rolled once, a bitter veil of black smoke pouring out from the damage site. An immense crater had been punched into the solid ground, concrete and tar fusing into a solid black mass as Sakura and Lilia gaped at the damage.

"Damn," Sakura whispered filling the stunned silence.

They stood there for a few seconds gasping for breath as towering spikes of flames danced in the bowl of the crater lighting the area with demonic red light like an immense hellish torch.

"That was close," Sakura said grimly, "Hurry up, we need to get you to safety."

She dragged the almost catatonic Lilia away as the flames continued to leap into the air.

* * *

She saw what was taped to the glass.

A small paper label with the word, flammable, printed on it in ominous red letters.

"Hey," Nivaline shot Psuedo-Sakura a wicked grin, "Didn't mama ever told you not to play with fire?"

Psuedo-Sakura's eyes widened with shock as Nivaline held out her hand.

"Huo," she whispered.

A small spark of flame danced across the palm of her hand as Nivaline smirked at the magical creature.

"Boom," she whispered throwing the tiny spot of flame at her.

The Angel dived backwards out of the room as the fire ever so gently brushed against Psuedo-Sakura's saturated skin. The flammable liquid soaking her body instantly exploded into flames as Psuedo-Sakura roared in pain.

"This isn't over!" she screamed, "I'll kill you!"

In a bright flash of light, she disappeared as Nivaline smiled triumphantly.

"Shui," she commanded sending a small wave of water into the storage room putting out the small patched of fire that still smouldered within.

Picking herself up she let out a sigh of relief. Instantly she sobered remembering Helen's words and Zachary's condition, she pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket and punched in the numbers she had just memorised a few days ago.

It began ringing as Nivaline paced around the hallway anxiously.

_'Hello?'_

"Sakura?"

* * *

Sakura glanced around the dark surroundings of the warehouse as Lilia cowered in the corner too afraid to move.

"Nivaline?"

_'Sakura…'_ Nivaline sighed, _'You know where I am?'_

Sakura gasped remembering.

"Zachary! Chelsea! Where are they? Are they okay?"

_'Sakura…'_ Nivaline's voice was grim.

"Nivaline… what's wrong?"

_'Sakura… Zachary's alright.'_

"Oh, thank god," a bright smile spread across her face, "You scared me with the grim tone of yours! Don't do that!"

_'Sakura… Chelsea's dead.'_

"What?"

_'She was shot… I think it was a professional that did it… I think they were gunning for Zachary and ended up killing her…'_

Sakura felt numb. Chelsea… suddenly her eyes hardened. Without even bothering to talk to Nivaline she hung up as she whirled around and faced Lilia.

"Who the hell did it?" she roared racing at the employee.

Lilia gasped in shock as Sakura dragged her to her feet and held her above her head, the woman's toes dangling several inches off the ground.

"Who the hell did it? Who did you hire to kill Zachary?"

Lilia stared down at her.

"What are you going on about? You know who it is!" she wailed.

"What?" Sakura snarled at her, "Don't play games with me! Who did it?"

"Alicia Rueben!"

"Who?"

She dropped Lilia to the ground as the Spinnel Corporation employee cowered against the cold hard ground.

"Alicia Rueben… you met her… you fought her… you defeated her…" she whispered brokenly.

"Fight?" Sakura's eyes widened as she realised what that meant, "Psuedo-Sakura!"

"What?" Lilia glanced up at the Angel and shivered as she stared at the young woman's icy cold eyes, "You fought… she ended up falling down five storeys…"

"Five storeys? And she's alive?!? What the hell is she?"

A smirk flashed across Lilia's face.

"Alicia Rueben is the final product of Project X-15. A project designed by Spinnel Corporation in conjunction with the U.S. military to create the… perfect solider."

Sakura frowned in confusion.

"What?!?"

"She's a genetically engineered fighter… spliced with the DNA of multiple organisms and mentally conditioned to be the perfect fighter. Among her many abilities, she has a remarkable regenerative rate."

"Where is she?"

"What?"

"WHERE DO I FIND HER?" Sakura growled.

"Her apartment."

"Where?"

Lilia stammered out her address as Sakura smiled in cold satisfaction.

"Good."

* * *

Eriol glanced down at the warehouse.

"Is this where they are?" Eriol asked.

"Yes, sir," the helicopter pilot replied.

"Good," Eriol smiled coldly, "Land this thing now!"

"Yes, sir!" the pilot answered smartly.

The helicopter began descending as Eriol readied his gun.

"Revenge is sweet," he whispered wondering what it would feel like to shoot Lilia, the bloody witch who had ruined his life and the one who had forced him into this situation.

=Irony isn't it? I'm the one that's going to kill her and yet if she left me alone I would be on a plane by now=

"Bitch," Eriol's grip on his gun tightened as the helicopter touched down gently.

* * *

Lilia began panicking as the sound of a helicopter rumbled through the empty warehouse.

"They're here!" she wailed, her eyes wild, "Protect me! Do something!"

"No."

Lilia stared at Sakura who stared calmly back at her.

"No," a cold smile appeared on Sakura's face, "Fend for yourself."

"But… but…"

"This is how you deserve to die. Not comfortably, not when you're old and wrinkled. Now. Gunned down like the bitch you are."

"But… you… you.. promised!"

"I promised nothing," Sakura spat, "Tell the devil Sakura sent you."

She gripped her talisman as Lilia gaped at her.

"Please! Please!" she screamed, sobs choking her voice.

Sakura ignored her as she summoned her Star wand.

"Move card. Get me away from this filth," she whispered, "Release and dispel."

Pink wings circled the cards mistress as Lilia looked on in shock. The Angel disappeared in a flash of light as the former Spinnel Corporation stared at the spot where she had been standing in shock.

"NOOOOO!!!" she screamed, mindless with fear and despair.

"Hey, Lilia."

Lilia whirled around and stared straight up into Eriol's amused eyes.

"Please, don't… no…"

"Sorry, the boss told me to," Eriol pressed the barrel of his gun against Lilia's feverish forehead, "Any last words?"

"No… no… no…"

"Not exactly memorable," the assassin noted as he pulled the trigger.

Blood splattered the floor as Lilia's body fell backwards her limbs still twitching, her eyes staring into Eriol's with stunned horror.

"But it'll have to do."

* * *

"I think we lost it," Tomoyo sighed with relief as she slowed to a stop.

"Finally," Meiling muttered.

It had taken them almost fifteen minutes to lose the crazy sixteen-wheel Spinnel Corporation controlled truck that had tried to convert them into road kill but they had done it… finally.

"So, warehouse?"

"Yep."

Suddenly they froze as bright light flashed through the area.

"Sakura?" Tomoyo whispered.

"Go back home," Sakura commanded softly, "Lilia's dead."

"How?" Meiling gasped.

"Spinnel… too many people. Overpowered me," Sakura said emotionlessly, "I tried to stop them but…"

She shrugged delicately.

"Sakura… are you okay?" Tomoyo asked worriedly.

"Peachy," Sakura held up her wand again, "Just thought you'd like to know there's no point in this anymore."

"Sakura… where are you going?" Meiling asked hoping the answer was home.

"I've got unfinished business."

And with that she summoned the Move card and disappeared again.

"Okay…"

* * *

"Ding dong!"

Alicia frowned as she moved to her front door.

"What the hell?" she glanced up at her clock, "At this hour? Who the hell could that be?"

She flung the door open.

"Alicia Rueben?"

Alicia stared at the strangely familiar girl standing in front of her.

"Yeah?"

A punch threw her backwards.

* * *

CLIFFHANGER!!!! Sorry for the massive delay but it's almost the end of another school term for me so you know… work… work… work! But holidays are here soon and I'd be able to write a lot more frequently! YAYYYY!!!

Next chapter:

As Sakura and Alicia fight it out, Tomoyo gets another premonition warning her that the Void card is almost about to break free. Determined to retrieve the third book as soon as possible, Tomoyo and her fellow Angels head to Japan but little do they know not only is Psuedo-Sakura on the tail determined to end this once and for all, the second guardian is waiting for them… who is this guardian? And how will Sakura and Alicia's fight end? Find out in… _Oh my goddess!_

A/Note:

Another massive delay! Sorry! But another very long chapter! Originally it was supposed to include the Sakura/Alicia fight but I decided it was too long already. So to does who were wondering what Alicia was, she is as Lilia explained the end result of Project X-15, a project initiated by Spinnel Corporation and the U.S. military.

Basically the project as designed to create the 'perfect soldier' through genetic manipulation/engineering and mental condition. As a result Alicia is better than your average assassin, she has super-strength, enhances senses and reflexes, fast healing capabilities and a few other tricks up her sleeves…

Anyway, thankful to everyone who reviewed and let's hope the next chapter wouldn't take quite so long…


	30. Oh my goddess!

YAY! SUMMER HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!!!! Sorry about the massive delays but it's finally here (and for the reason why see the author notes)!!!! As usual 20 new reviews means a quicker (hopefully) update!!! I NEED 20 REVIEWS! Disclaimer: See previous chapters Syaoran's Angels

**Chapter 29: Oh my goddess!**

_Previously on Syaoran's Angels_

"STOP! PLEASE!" Lilia screamed raising her hands in surrender, "HELP ME!"

"Why the hell should I help you?" Sakura demanded.

"My boss knows I betrayed him… and trust me he isn't the forgiving type. He'll want me dead and he'll kill me slowly to make an example of me," Lilia explained hurriedly between gasping breaths and terrified glances behind her shoulder, "I need protection! Anything!"

"Why shouldn't I just let him kill you," Sakura paused before allowing a cold smile flit across her face, "Or kill you myself for that matter?"

"I can give you information!"

Sakura paused as she thought it over.

"Start talking," Sakura commanded coldly still eyeing the woman suspiciously, "Tell me everything you know about Spinnel Corporation or I'll leave you to fend for yourself."

* * *

"Nivaline?" 

_'Sakura…'_ Nivaline sighed, _'You know where I am?'_

Sakura gasped remembering.

"Zachary! Chelsea! Where are they? Are they okay?"

'_Sakura…'_ Nivaline's voice was grim.

"Nivaline… what's wrong?"

'_Sakura… Zachary's alright.'_

"Oh, thank god," a bright smile spread across her face, "You scared me with the grim tone of yours! Don't do that!"

_'Sakura… Chelsea's dead.'_

"Who the hell did it? Who did you hire to kill Zachary?"

Lilia stared up at her.

"What are you going on about? You know who it is!" she wailed.

"What?" Sakura snarled at her, "Don't play games with me! Who did it?"

"Alicia Rueben!"

"They're here!" Lilia wailed, her eyes wild, "Protect me! Do something!"

"No."

Lilia stared at Sakura who stared calmly back at her.

"No," a cold smile appeared on Sakura's face, "Fend for yourself."

"But… but…"

"This is how you deserve to die. Not comfortably, not when you're old and wrinkled. Now. Gunned down like the bitch you are."

* * *

"Sorry, the boss told me to," Eriol pressed the barrel of his gun against Lilia's feverish forehead, "Any last words?" 

"No… no… no…"

"Not exactly memorable," the assassin noted as he pulled the trigger.

Blood splattered the floor as Lilia's body fell backwards her limbs still twitching, her eyes staring into Eriol's with stunned horror.

"But it'll have to do."

* * *

_"Alicia Rueben is the final product of Project X-15. A project designed by Spinnel Corporation in conjunction with the U.S. military to create the… perfect solider. She's a genetically engineered fighter… spliced with the DNA of multiple organisms and mentally conditioned to be the perfect fighter."_

* * *

"Ding dong!" 

Alicia frowned as she moved to her front door.

"What the hell?" she glanced up at her clock, "At this hour? Who the hell could that be?"

She flung the door open.

"Alicia Rueben?"

Alicia stared at the strangely familiar girl standing in front of her.

"Yeah?"

A punch threw her backwards.

* * *

A quick snap-kick throttled her body as she hit the ground smacking the smooth floorboards with considerable force. The fall rattled her body as the girl fell on her lashing out with punishing blows. 

"HIYA!" Alicia yelled as she lashed out with both feet catching the girl in the chest.

She stumbled backwards as the assassin took the opportunity to flip back onto her own feet. She struck the girl twice in the face with two consecutive right hooks but was blocked on the third. She hissed at the girl as she smirked back before punching her in the face with a powerful roundhouse.

Alicia stumbled backwards clutching her jaw as the girl continued to grin at her, showing way too much teeth for comfort.

"What the hell?" she spat realising who this mysterious girl was, "Zachary's protector!"

The girl's grin vanished, her eyes hardening into chips of cold emerald.

"That's right," she snarled, "And you're Alicia Rueben."

"You know me and I know you," Alicia smirked, "Great. Nice to meet you and now get the hell out of my house."

"Uh, uh," Sakura wagged a finger at her, "Ain't going to happen. You own me something Alicia. You own me blood."

"Whoa!" Alicia feigned shock, "The blood bank must be really desperate this time of the year!"

She threw Sakura a smirk.

"I didn't know they were this… forceful."

"You have no idea how forceful I can be," Sakura growled back her voice low and deadly.

Alicia barely blocked a vicious snap kick as she whirled around trying to kick Sakura away. The Angel nimbly blocked the blow with her left before punching Alicia with an open palm with her right. The strike struck Alicia in the chest forcing the assassin a few stumbling steps backwards as the African-American woman hissed in pain and fury. She grabbed Sakura's arm as the Angel tried another punch and hurled her across the room. Sakura crashed against a set of fragile metal and glass shelves falling in a cascade of glittering shards that cut into her skin. Alicia flew at her with a flying kick, Sakura fought back the throbbing pain that numbed her body and managed to roll away just in time more glass biting into her skin as she dodged Alicia's attack. The assassin crashed into the ground as Sakura staggered to her feet, Alicia doing the same. They faced each other, eyes blazing bodies slowly settling into different battle stances.

"You honestly think you can beat me?" Alicia asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yeah," Sakura let out a small harsh laugh, "I do."

Alicia threw a punch at her that the Angel easily blocked. Sakura punched Alicia in the face kicking her away sending the assassin stumbling to the ground, Sakura leapt at her crushing the assassin under her weight as they fell in a tangled sprawl. Somehow Alicia managed to end up on top as with a fierce roar she slid her right arm around Sakura's neck and flexed her muscles beginning to choke the helpless Angel with incredible force.

Grey and black danced past her eyes as Sakura's vision blurred, Alicia's grip tightened strangling every last breath of air out of her lungs. She gasped for breath as her arms beat wildly against Alicia's as the assassin staggered to her feet dragging the Angel up with her.

"Come on bitch," Alicia growled lowly into her ears, "Thought you were going to beat me."

Sakura managed a tight smile even though her vision was slowly dimming as a dull roar filled her ears. Gasping for breath, she struggled to speak.

"Ain't finished yet," she managed to rasp as she leaned forwards slightly.

"CRACK!"

Her right leg shot upwards as she managed the almost impossible task of kicking Alicia in the face. The assassin let out a grunt of pain as she stumbled backwards, Sakura managed to rip herself free from her grip. The Angel whirled around massaging her bruised neck gently as Alicia recovered glaring at her.

"Think you're good don't you?" Alicia spat.

"I know I'm good," Sakura replied with a cold smile.

Alicia grabbed a vase of a nearby table and hurled it at Sakura the ceramic pot spinning through the air. Sakura kicked it out of the air as it crashed against the cream coloured walls shattering into thousands of pieces. Alicia hurled a glass cup at her as Sakura ducked the glassware shooting overhead as she leapt to her left and tucked into a roll jumping up beside a tall floor lamp. Grabbing the metre long lamp, she ripped it free of the power point as the light winked out casting a veneer of shadows across the walls. She charged at Alicia with the lamp held outwards like a knight of old charging at his enemy with his trusty lance, the assassin used both her arms to block the charge but the force of it sent her stumbling backwards as needles of pain shot up her arms. She grimaced in pain but had not time to recover as Sakura swung it at her.

"CRACK!"

Pain roared through Alicia's body as the lamp smashed into her ribs, she felt something break as she spat in fury. Sakura threw a smirk at her as she twirled the lamp expertly in her hands before whacking her in the thigh with it. An ugly bruise formed almost immediately as her leg came out from under her forcing her to the ground as Alicia howled in pain.

"CRACK!"

Sakura swung the lamp upwards the metal stand almost bending with the force of the blow as it cracked Alicia in the jaw sending her flying across the room. Glass shattered as she sailed through the intricate French door leading into her kitchen, her back thudding into the wooden island in the middle of the room as Sakura advanced on her, the lamp still in her hands.

"HAH!" Sakura yelled thrusting the lamp at her, "HAH!"

Alicia spun to the left dodged one thrust before spinning to her right narrowly dodging the other. She gripped the edge of bench with her hands and lifted herself into the air striking out with both feet. She kicked the lamp away as Sakura charged at her, her other foot kicking Sakura in the face. Pain shot through her body forcing Sakura to drop the lamp as Alicia kicked her again with her other foot before leaping into a back flip and tucking into a ball rolling over the surface of the bench and landing safely on the other side.

Seeing the small kitchen and knowing that the lamp would hamper rather than help her, Sakura kicked it out of her way as she leapt onto the wooden island.

"TAKE THIS BITCH!"

Alicia suddenly leapt up from behind the bench and swiped at her, a long gleaming kitchen knife clutched in her hands. Sakura's eyes widened in shock as she leapt up grabbing the overhead lamp narrowly missing getting her ankle cut off. Alicia growled in frustration, as the lamp Sakura had grabbed onto broke unable to take her weight dumping the Angel onto the wooden bench, the exposed wires above hissing and crackling with electricity. Sakura hurled the light fixture as Alicia as the assassin hurriedly ducked, the lamp hitting the sink and literally exploded into a hail of glass and twisted metal. Sakura jumped away from the island landing onto a nearby dining table as Alicia jumped up and charged at Sakura, the knife still clutched in her hands. Alicia leapt up onto the table as Sakura backed away wearily eyeing the knife as Alicia smirked at her.

"So little girl," she smirked, "Not so brave now are you?"

"Says the one with the knife," Sakura shot back.

Alicia's grin disappeared as her face hardened.

"Talk time is over, lets get down to business."

"Lets," Sakura agreed grimly.

Alicia's feet were silent as she stalked Sakura along the surface of the table, the knife held in front of her its razored edge gleaming in the dim light of the kitchen. Sakura backed away slowly always aware that the edge of the table was slowly creeping up on her.

"HAH!" Alicia swiped at her as Sakura hurriedly swerved to avoid the blade.

Metal sliced air and narrowly missed flesh as Alicia tried another wild slash as Sakura hurriedly sidestepped it, unfortunately that step was one inch too close to the edge of the table and she stumbled as Alicia let out a crow of triumph and lunged at her. Only a quick twist saved her neck from being skewered on the knife as the edge sliced through her shoulder. Sakura gasped in pain but forced herself to fight back the wave of pain and nausea that threatened to overwhelm her knowing that if she didn't get Alicia away soon she would be sliced to ribbons. She punched the assassin in the face forcing her backwards before nimbly leaping off the table launching into a quick flip before landing on her feet.

Alicia recovered as Sakura hurriedly checked her wound. It was a long cut but not very deep, annoying rather than fatal. Sakura breathed a small sigh of relief but had no time to do anything else as Alicia leapt off the table in pursuit.

"DIE!" she screamed as she lunged at Sakura again.

Sakura jumped backwards sucking in her stomach as the blade narrowly missed her. Alicia's wild swing caused her to teeter for a few seconds as she tried to regain her balance, Sakura took advantage of this and kicked her away running behind the island as Alicia hit the front of her fridge.

"Come on bitch," Alicia snarled, "Come on. Come and get me."

She ran after Sakura as she struck again. Sakura spun out of the way as the blade narrowly missed her, seeing something one the kitchen bench Sakura snatched it up and whirled around to block Alicia's next blow.

Knife hit chopping board as the metal sank into the wood sticking fast. Alicia's eyes widened in shock as Sakura smirked kicking the assassin in the stomach. Her hand flew away from the blade handle leaving it embedded into the chopping board as Sakura hurled it straight at Alicia catching the woman in the chest as a strangled gasp of pain ripped from her throat.

"BITCH!" Alicia roared rubbing her wound.

"Stick and stones won't break my bones," Sakura taunted wagging a finger at her, "But it'll do a hell of lot to yours."

Alicia let out a roar of fury and reached to her left grabbing the microwave that lay on the bench. She ripped it free from the wall and hurled it straight at Sakura. The Angel leapt to the left glass, metal and plastic spraying into the air as sparks accompanied the microwave's demise. Alicia lunged at her but Sakura gripped her leg in a scissor kick sending the assassin tumbling to the ground. Sakura tried to jump up but Alicia's hand shot up and gripped her ankle yanking her ruthlessly to the ground.

"Ain't getting away from me!" Alicia snarled as Sakura worked her ankle free and kicked the assassin.

Both women leapt up at the same time and spun around to meet the other. Sakura's open palm batted away a kick as she tried to punch the woman in the throat but was blocked as the woman shoved an elbow in the way. They stood there amidst the kitchen ruins trading blows neither winning nor losing. Alicia suddenly lunged to her left grabbing something from one of the benches that lined the kitchen walls; Sakura had no time to react as the assassin struck her in thigh with a rolling pin. Pain speared up her leg as Sakura let out a cry of pain and fell to her knees as Alicia brought the rolling pin down in an overhead strike. Sakura hurriedly blocked the blow before punching Alicia in the stomach, the assassin dropped the wooden cooking device turned weapon as she keeled over in pain. Sakura shot her left arm out striking Alicia's exposed chin with an open palm before hitting her in the stomach with two fists sending the assassin backwards. She leapt up and hit Alicia with a one-two kick hitting her first in the stomach than face. Taking advantage of her pain Sakura grabbed the woman's flailing arms and hurled her across the room with a grunt.

Alicia crashed into the wall sending a hanging spice rack tumbling down raining glass, oregano, basil, paprika and other dried herbs and spices down onto her battered body. She gasped for breath as she slowly staggered to her feet as Sakura came at her with a flying kick but Alicia grabbed her foot at last minute and with a fierce cry hurled her across the room. Sakura crashed through another door and ended up back in the living room as Alicia charged after her.

Sakura crawled to her feet as Alicia slammed into her sending her flying forwards and crashing back into the ground. She staggered onto her feet as Alicia lunged at her again.

Sakura spun around in a quick spin-kick and knocked Alicia backwards and out of the air. Alicia crash landed on top of a small coffee table and flopped over the edge as Sakura gasped in pain clutching the cut on her shoulder.

Alicia wasn't much better off if her harsh breathing was anything to judge by. She grabbed the edge of the table and pushed at it with all her might, the table shot forwards as Sakura forced her into a back flip sailing over the table as it slammed into the wall punching into the plaster as Sakura landed neatly onto the table top. She let out a hiss of pain as the impact of the landing rolled up her injured leg but had not time to dwell on it as Alicia charged at her. She staved the assassin off with a crescent kick but was too slow to react as Alicia's hand shot out and grabbed her ankle. With a vicious yank, Sakura's leg came out from under her and she felt the back of her head hit the table edge as pain roared through her skull. Through a haze of pain, she saw Alicia's fist bearing down on her. She rolled to her left just in time as the fist punched through the thick frosted glass top of the coffee table drawing out a howl of pained curses from Alicia as Sakura blinked in confusion not realising what had happened. For a few seconds Alicia was stuck, her fist caught in the glass, jagged shards biting into her skin like transparent fangs. Sakura reacted quickly; whipping her head up and head butting Alicia in the face ripping the assassin's hand free in process as the assassin stumbled backwards clutching her torn hand.

Sakura leapt at her but a roundhouse kick sending her flying into a door as the wood and glass entrance exploded inwards at the impact sending Sakura sailing into a new room. She landed, amazingly enough, right on top of a soft comfortable mattress as she laid there gasping for breath.

"Thank god for the bed," she managed to gasp feeling her blood soak into the soft fabric.

In the living room, Alicia stumbled to an armoire set into the wall. She flung the ornate glass door open and ripped away the false backing as she heard the sound of springs creaking warning her that the Angel inside her bedroom was stirring. The assassin's fingers flew across a small metal number-pad welded to the metal door behind the armoire, after a few seconds pause and with a soft hiss the light on the pad turned green and the door slid into the wall. A metal rack bearing various firearms shot out Alicia grabbing the first one she could reach and hurriedly lurched forwards towards her destroyed bedroom door.

Sakura staggered to her feet as Alicia's shadow fell across the floor.

She looked up.

"Holy…" Sakura whispered.

Alicia pulled the trigger as her rocket launcher leapt into action with a soft whir. A small black rocket propelled itself across the air as Sakura hit the ground protecting her head with her arms, the rocket jetting past overhead. It crashed into the wall unleashing a ball of fire and burning debris as Sakura felt heat sear her back. Alicia hurled the now useless weapon down in fury as she realised that Sakura had survived the blast.

"Why won't you just die?!?" she roared.

She ran back into the living room as Sakura forced herself to follow. Alicia stagged to her rack of weapons and picked up another firearm, Sakura made it to the doorway as Alicia pulled the trigger.

The Angel hurled herself to the left as a wave of blue flames swept the doorway. Alicia screamed in fury and tracked the Angel down as wave after wave of flames singed the walls, floors and ceiling sometime only narrowly missing Sakura by mere inches. The Angel rolled under an azure tongue of roiling flames as she lashed out with her foot catching Alicia above the knee. The assassin fell the flamethrower flying out of her hands and landing several inches away as Sakura leapt up and ran to the rack of firearms jutting out from the hidden compartment. She picked the most familiar weapon to her, a simple handgun, as Alicia crawled to her feet flamethrower in hand. Sakura whirled around and, without even bothering to aim, fired.

The first bullet slammed into Alicia's chest unleashing a spray of crimson blood as the assassin's body jerked backwards. Sakura fired again and this time the bullet howled through the air and missed the assassin completely… only to hit the fuel tank of the flamethrower.

For a few impossible seconds Alicia's shocked eyes stared into Sakura's as a small trail of smoke drifted out from the jagged hole in the tiny fuel tank.

Sakura looked away.

The weapon exploded unleashing a gush of flames and superheated metal as Alicia fell, engulfed by fire. It quickly spread up the walls and along the floor of the apartment as Sakura watched dispassionately. She dropped the gun as flames continued to spread through the room.

And clutching her wounded shoulder, Sakura limped away from the carnage.

* * *

"I wonder what she's doing." 

Tomoyo looked at Meiling in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

The two Angels were walking up the driveway towards Tomoyo's house as Meiling sighed in relief seeing the warm cheery lights spilling out from the windows a stark contrast to the cold darkness of night.

"Sakura."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Meiling said dryly, "Big oh."

"I wonder what really happened," Tomoyo mused absently.

"Huh?"

"Oh come on," Tomoyo snorted derisively, "Spinnel Corporation overpowered her? Need I remind you that Sakura has the cards on her side?"

"They may have ambushed her…" Meiling began weakly.

Tomoyo shot her an incredulous look.

"Okay… so maybe she had something to do with it but…" Meiling shrugged, "So what? Lilia's dead but nobody's crying over it."

"Still… I think Sakura's gone off the deep end."

"Won't be the first time," Meiling reminded her bringing back memories of Sakura's disastrous solo trip to Santa Barbara.

"I'm sure she'll tell us the truth," Tomoyo said without any real conviction in her voice.

"Yeah and I'll become a tree-hugging pacifist," Meiling shot back with a roll of her eyes.

Tomoyo shook her head and opened the front door as Marcus appeared in the doorway. Meiling's sarcastic smile dissolved into a warming loving one as the two stared at each other, Tomoyo fidgeting nervously between them not wanting to ruin the moment.

"Hey, you're back," Marcus said finally with a small worried grin, "How did everything go?"

"We survived," Tomoyo said with a groan dreading the bruises that she knew would form on her pale skin by morning, "And oh look at the time! And I'm feeling so tired I think I'll just jump into bed."

She darted past Marcus throwing a final smirk at Meiling as the two stared at each other.

"Not very subtle is she?" Meiling asked dryly.

"No, not very," Marcus replied just as deadpan, "So how did everything go… really?"

"No biggie, I narrowly avoided getting ran over by motorbikes and trucks but aside from that… you know same old, same old."

"Yeah, I know," Marcus said sagely.

They stared at each other before bursting into laughter.

"Sorry about ruining the date," Meiling said as Marcus led her into the house, "I really, really couldn't hel…"

She was cut off as Marcus suddenly kissed her. Smiling against his lips Meiling flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly against her as she willed this moment to last forever. His arms drifted down to her hips as he deepened the kiss finally the need for air ended the kiss.

"Hey," Marcus murmured softly pulling away and smiling into her dazed eyes, "Don't worry about it."

"But I really want to make it up to you," Meiling said sincerely with a small smile.

Marcus's devilish grin clued Meiling in on the double meaning of her sentence.

"Oh," she gasped, her eyes going wild, "Oh!"

Marcus swept her up in his arms as she laughed wildly.

And inside her own room, Tomoyo grinned and shook her head as her friend's happy shriek of laughter filled the house.

* * *

Sakura was notably absent as the two remaining Angels sat down on the cream coloured couch facing the only connection to their mysterious boss: the speaker box. 

"Good morning Angels," Syaoran greeted.

"Good morning Syaoran!" the girls chorused.

There was a short puzzled pause.

"Is it just me or is there only two of you."

"Sakura's missing…" Meiling sighed, "Again."

"Again? Is she okay? Last time she was missing she…"

"She's fine, I spoke to her on the phone," Tomoyo assured him, "I think something happened to her last night."

"What happened?"

Thus Tomoyo began the harrowing tale of the previous night telling Syaoran firstly of Lilia's sudden appearance and surrender to them and the subsequent fight against the Spinnel Corporation commando teams. She ended with Sakura's sudden departure and strange behaviour.

"You don't think…" Syaoran began, "No…"

"No what?" Meiling asked curiously wondering what was one her boss's mind.

"She murdered Lilia?"

The room fell silent.

"No!" Tomoyo protested, "No way! She wouldn't…"

"Unless…" Meiling trailed off, "Zachary… if something had happened to Zachary and Sakura find out…"

"She is very protective of those she cares about," Syaoran noted, "It is one of her greatest strengths and perhaps also her greatest weakness. Xiaolang informed me of how she… chewed him out for placing the Yamazakis in danger."

"Oh god," Tomoyo realised something, "Nivaline?"

"What?" Meiling asked staring at her.

Tomoyo quickly told her fellow Angel and boss how she had told Nivaline about their little situation and how the former Angel had offered to travel to Santa Barbara to follow up on her hospital lead.

"If she found out something, she would've probably called Sakura knowing that she would want to be the first to know," Tomoyo rubbed her temple, "Ack! I should've realised that!"

"Can you get a hold of Nivaline now?" Syaoran asked, "Ask her what she found?"

Tomoyo nodded forgetting that her boss couldn't see her as she dug out her mobile and punched in the now familiar number.

_'Hello?' _a sleepy voice greeted her.

"Nivaline?"

'Tomoyo?' 

"Where are you?" Tomoyo demanded.

_'Santa Barbara… the hospital,' _Nivaline clarified.

"Why aren't you back?" Tomoyo asked hurriedly firing one question after another not giving Nivaline a chance to reply, "What happened? Is Zachary okay? Do you know what happened to Sakura?"

_'To answer your questions in chronological order…' _Nivaline began dryly, _'I'm watching over Zachary, Psuedo-Sakura, he's fine and didn't Sakura tell you?'_

"Tell us what?" Tomoyo asked with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

'Oh god… what did she do?' 

Tomoyo relayed the tale of Lilia to her as Nivaline groaned.

'And she was with Lilia at the time…' 

"So she says."

_'She killed her,' _Nivaline said flatly.

"What!?!" Tomoyo was startled by the conviction in Nivaline's voice.

'Tomoyo… Zachary is fine… Chelsea isn't.'

"What is she okay? Is she hurt? How bad is it? Is she go…" a flurry of questions burst from Tomoyo's lips as Meiling frowned wondering what was going on.

'She's dead.'

"Oh," Tomoyo said taken aback as her mind tried actually absorb this piece of information, "Zachary… how is he copi…"

_'And I think it was a professional hit,' _Nivaline said grimly dropping the bombshell.

"Lilia," Tomoyo gasped realising the connection, "Oh god, Sakura…"

'Yeah, somehow I don't think Sakura would be so… forgiving towards Lilia.'

"What the hell did she do now?" Tomoyo groaned.

'Look, the nurses are giving the 'look of death' so I better go. Psuedo-Sakura tried to attack or kidnap or do something to Zachary when I got here, I'll stick around and place some protection spells or something around him and then I'll try to head back to L.A.,' Nivaline said informing Tomoyo of her plan, 'See you soon.'

And on that decisive note Nivaline hung up as Tomoyo turned back to Meiling and the speaker box.

"I think we have a problem…"

"Is something wrong Tomoyo?" Syaoran asked concerned.

"Zachary's alive. Chelsea isn't. Lilia had something do with it. And knowing Sakura's protective streak she wouldn't forgive easily. She and Lilia were alone. Lilia's dead… need I elaborate?" Tomoyo replied in a flurry of short sentences.

Meiling rolled her eyes at Tomoyo's to the point breakdown of the situation but realised the full extent of what she said.

"You don't think… Sakura killed her did you?"

"Its possible…" Tomoyo began dubiously.

"No."

The two Angels looked at the speaker box.

"Huh?"

"Sakura didn't. She may have contributed to her death but she wouldn't willingly kill a helpless woman," Syaoran said firmly, "I think we should talk to her before we wildly speculate on what happened."

The two Angels calmed down realising the wisdom of their boss's suggestion.

"Oh!" Tomoyo exclaimed suddenly smacking herself in the forward as she silent berated herself for forgetting, "The book!"

"What?" Syaoran asked startled.

"We retrieved the third talisman and I… well… I found out the location of the third book!"

"When did you find out?"

"Right after we got the talisman… I would've told you but Xiaolang informed us you were busy with something," Tomoyo finished lamely, "But I know where it is."

"Where?" Syaoran pressed.

"Japan," Tomoyo sighed, "Don't know the exact location but I saw lots of snow."

"So somewhere in the mountains then," Syaoran fell silent before sighing, "I don't think there's any other way for us to find it unless we actually go there."

"Yay!" Meiling muttered sarcastically, "Anyone up for a game of finding a needle in a haystack?"

Tomoyo elbowed her in the ribs.

"Catch a flight to Tokyo tonight. I'll have someone there to meet you at Tokyo International Airport once you land there," Syaoran commanded, "Goodbye Angels."

"Goodbye Syaoran!"

* * *

"Sakura?" 

Tomoyo pushed open the door to her friend and fellow Angel's apartment and peered inside.

"Yeah?" Sakura's voice drifted through the apartment as Tomoyo and Meiling stepped inside.

She emerged from her bathroom holding a bloodstained towel to her shoulder as Meiling and Tomoyo stared at her.

"What?" Sakura asked raising an eyebrow at her.

It was obvious that she had just had shower, her auburn hair was still damp and water droplets still clung to the patches of exposed skin not covered by the thick white towel she wrapped around her body.

"Blood," Meiling commented noticing the long think cut on her friend's shoulder.

"Oh, this?" Sakura laughed, "A little memento from last night. Rika."

"Rika?!?" Meiling was surprised, "That psycho's still alive?"

"And kicking," Sakura paused, "And clawing. But don't worry, I think the shadowy-fire A-bomb took her out."

"Huh?" This time Tomoyo joined in with Meiling's confusion.

"Didn't I tell you?" Sakura asked frowning.

"Ahhh… you did suddenly appear out of nowhere told us Lilia's dead then disappeared straight away," Tomoyo frowned, "Where were you?"

"Oh, I just came straight back here," Sakura laughed, the warmth of her smile not reaching her emerald eyes, "I had to tend my wounds before I bled out."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Sakura smiled mysterious, "Just fine. Bad guys defeated, good guys won…"

"Sakura, we know about Chelsea."

Her friend froze.

"Oh," she said seemingly unconcerned.

She walked back into her bathroom and when she appeared again she was vigorously rubbing her damp hair with another towel.

"So what did Syaoran say?" Sakura asked changing the subject abruptly as she continued to dry her hair.

"He was… concerned about you."

"Why?"

Meiling snorted.

"Jeez, I don't know," she muttered rolling her eyes, "The whole disappearing act you pulled off, Chelsea and Lilia being killed and you're somewhat strange behaviour."

Sakura's face hardened.

"Lilia's dead because she deserved to die," the American Angel said coldly, "She deserved certainly deserved nothing more than that."

"Sakura," Tomoyo said softly, "Did you kill her?"

Sakura smiled coldly.

"No."

Tomoyo eyed Sakura suspiciously but she knew her friend well enough to tell that she wasn't lying. She and Meiling exchanged glances as Sakura continued to casually dry her hair as though nothing had happened.

"Where were you last night?" Tomoyo asked.

"Here."

Even Meiling could tell she was lying now but Sakura refused to look at them as she continued rubbing her hair intent on removing every single last drop of moisture from her damp auburn tresses.

"Sakura," Meiling said softly, "You wanna talk?"

"About what?"

"Chelsea."

"There's nothing to talk about," Sakura said flatly, "She's dead and it's all my fault."

"Sakura, it's not all yo…"

Sakura snorted.

"Yeah right," Sakura draped the now damp towel around her neck as she looked at her friends, her eyes cold and hard, "If I hadn't been involved, Chelsea would still be alive."

"Sakura, Zachary would have still been promoted," Meiling argued, "Lilia would have still try and gone after them…"

"The only reason why Zachary was promoted was because Hayden was killed. And why was he killed? Because he tried to kill us," Sakura said angrily, "It's all one massive interlocking web and now… Chelsea's dead."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room.

"Look," Sakura said suddenly breaking the silence, "Just forget I even mentioned it."

Silence greeted Sakura's comment.

"So," Sakura sighed, "What did Syaoran want?"

"He wants us to go to Japan… tonight," Meiling said, a concerned look still on her face.

Her friend really needed to deal with her grief and guilt not hide it behind a smiling façade. From experience Meiling knew that the feelings she repressed would fester in her mind compounding her anguish until it became almost unbearable, Meiling sympathised with her acknowledging the fact that maybe… just maybe they had something to do with Chelsea's death in a massively indirect way but Sakura couldn't dwell on that. She had to find solace and recover… something had happened last night and she refused to talk about it. She needed to or it would plague her until it drove her mad.

"Tonight," Sakura nodded, "Okay. What time?"

"I managed to book a flight for ten o'clock," Tomoyo informed her.

"Okay, I'll be at your place at nine," Sakura turned around and began walking back into her bathroom, "See ya."

Sensing they were dismissed Meiling and Tomoyo left still exchanging worried glances.

Something had to be done.

* * *

"I'll get it!" Tomoyo called. 

The doorbell rang again as Tomoyo frowned wondering who it was. She went to her door and flung it open as Nivaline stumbled in, her face pale and her hazel green eyes feverish.

"Nivaline!" Tomoyo gasped grabbing the older woman's arm and supporting her, "You okay?"

"Tired," Nivaline muttered stifling a yawn, "Protection spells took more out of me than I thought."

"Didn't I tell you not to push yourself too far," a familiar voice said behind them.

Tomoyo looked up as Nivaline whirled around only to be greeted with a familiar smirking face.

"Kiyone," Tomoyo blinked in surprise, "Aren't you supposed to be… in hospital."

"Nah," Kiyone shook her head still smiling wickedly, "I got released had to threaten the doctor to do it though but here I am!"

"But I though your wounds were bad…" Tomoyo trailed off lamely, "How?"

"Ms. Harry Potter here did some healing mojo," Kiyone gestured at Nivaline.

"It wasn't easy," Nivaline said with a wry smile, "You kept trying to resist."

"Whatever you say Potter," Kiyone muttered with a roll of her eyes, "So what wacky adventures are you people up to?"

"Well, Lilia's dead," Tomoyo began, "Chelsea's dead. Sakura's gone off the deep end. And we're about to embark on a mystical quest for the third book."

Kiyone blinked.

"Chelsea?" she gasped, "Oh god… how?"

"Lilia's doing."

"So she got killed too," Kiyone muttered grimly, "Looks like the karma of the universe is working just fine…"

The three of them fell silent as they mourned for the young woman they had only known for such a small time, a young woman that had been taken from her husband and friends so cruelly and tragically…

"How's Sakura coping?" Nivaline asked suddenly.

Tomoyo sighed.

"Not good, I don't need to be a psychologist to see that she's not dealing with it. She's repressing her feelings and shoving them away," Tomoyo bit her lips, "I'm worried."

They stared at each other trying to think of a way to help Sakura but no solutions were coming any time soon. The silence dragged on as the three women stared at each other uncomfortably.

"So what was that about the mystical quest?" Kiyone asked changing the subject abruptly.

"Third book, we're going after it," Tomoyo told the two.

"So where is it?" Kiyone prompted.

"Japan."

"Care to be more specific?" Kiyone muttered.

Tomoyo sighed in frustration.

"We don't know where it is," Tomoyo said exasperated, "Meiling thinks it's like looking for a needle in a haystack…"

"Or intelligence in a group of cheerleaders," Kiyone chimed in.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes as Nivaline smothered a smile as she continued.

"Anyway, we're going there tonight and hopefully something will come up."

Kiyone and Nivaline glanced at each other as Tomoyo eyes at them warily.

"What?" she demanded thinking she might not like their response.

"Well… if it's really that hard," Nivaline said without any preamble, "We'll come with you."

Tomoyo stared at them blinking in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Hell why not?" Kiyone shrugged her shoulders, "We'll join you, we'll be like the Famous Five…. except well one us isn't a dog and we're all females but you get the gist of it…"

"I think what's she's trying to say is that we'll love to join you," Nivaline stared earnestly into Tomoyo's eyes, "That's if you want us to…"  
"Of course!" Tomoyo beamed at them, "This will make our works so much easier. Come on! Come inside! I'll just book two more tickets."

She disappeared into the house as the two formers Angels followed closely behind her.

* * *

"Bloody protections spells are too strong," Psuedo-Sakura muttered. 

Standing within his realm of placid lakes and imposing mountains, Yue's hair and skin gave off an aura of heavenly light blazing like a pale white sun in the shadows and darkness that wreathed his land. Psuedo-Sakura stood on the narrow ribbon of sand that reamed the calm lake that dominated much of this mysterious place as she gazed up at her 'boss' with an annoyed look on her face.

"Tried to break through but they held," Psuedo-Sakura continued annoyance clear in her dark emerald eyes.

"It does not matter," Yue said softly cutting her off as his wings gave a lazy flap keeping him above the smooth surface of the dark lake below as he gazed down at his creation, "The three is trying to locate the third book."

Psuedo-Sakura blinked in surprise.

"So it's time for Little Miss Broken Heart to step up to the plate," Psuedo-Sakura sniggered, "You know I never got the full story between you and her."

"It is none of your concern," Yue glanced at Psuedo-Sakura sharply, "You're to try and stop them but you must leave her to do most of the fighting… understood?"

He eyed her suspiciously wishing he knew what was going on inside her head. If the Angels succeeded in retrieving the third book than Psuedo-Sakura would cease to exist simply due to the fact that her role in the quest for the three books were completed but knowing her, Yue wouldn't put it pass her to try something shifty to lengthen her life span.

"Got ya," Psuedo-Sakura gave her boss a cheeky salute, "See you later."

She disappeared in a flash of white light as Yue frowned.

See you later?

* * *

Meiling snuggled against Marcus as she felt an impish grin settling over her face. 

"This is nice," she murmured sleepily.

Marcus laughed and wrapped his arm around her as the distinct sound of Tomoyo's doorbell rang through the house.

"I wonder who that could be?" Marcus wondered.

Meiling smiled as she felt his voice rumble in his chest, draping an arm over his naked chest she traced random lines over his skin with her index finger and smiled as Marcus let out a low hiss of delight. Unable to take it any longer, he grabbed her hand and drew her to him as his lips brushed ever so lightly against hers.

"Stop teasing," Meiling moaned as Marcus smirked at her reaction.

He did against, another feather-light brush against her lip as Meiling moaned something incoherently.

"You…" she began but was cut off as Marcus kissed her hard on the lips.

They clung each other tightly as Meiling deepened the kiss trying to press as much of her body against his as his hands roamed her back drawing out a low moan from his lover as he continued to deepen their kiss. Meiling was lost in the moment as she rolled him onto his back and went to straddle him…

"Daddy!"

The door flung open as Meiling let out a small scream of surprise and hurriedly slid back to her side of the bed covering herself up with the twisted blanket that lay between them. Lily stood in the doorway taking in the scene spread before her with wide innocent eyes.

"Hey, Lily," Meiling stammered feeling her face heat up.

Marcus had a familiar blush on his face as Lily stared at them, the two adults staring back wondering what to say or do. Luckily Tomoyo came to the rescue.

"Umm… Lily," she appeared behind the young girl, "You want to come with me. I think your Daddy and Aunty Mei.."

"Mommy," Lily corrected stubbornly.

Meiling felt her embarrassment turn to delight as she heard Lily's correction. A small grin danced across her lips before she remembered why she wanted to Lily to leave the room as soon as possible. A deep blush settled over her cheeks once more as Tomoyo tried again.

"Mommy," Tomoyo sent a small grin Meiling's way, "Are a bit busy. Why don't you come with me, I know a certain little girl who would love some cookies."

Lily beamed up at her 'aunt' and allowed her to take her to the kitchen as Meiling sighed and glanced at Marcus. They stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

"I think we better get up," Marcus suggested, "Before Lily walks in on us again."

Meiling groaned but had to agree as she reached down onto the floor and picked up her discarded shirt. Trying to change as quick as possible, Meiling tried one last attempt to tidy up her ruffled hair before giving up and grabbing Marcus's hand as the two of them walked into the kitchen together.

* * *

Several hours later, Tomoyo opened her front door again and this time Sakura walked in a warm smile plastered on her beautiful face. 

"Hey, Tomoyo," she said cheerfully.

Tomoyo eyed her worriedly as Sakura walked into the kitchen drawn by the delicious smell wafting from within. Her emerald eyes wept over the scene that greeted her and smiled noting that Meiling and Marcus were seated very closely together both wearing eerily similar satisfied grins, Sakura didn't need to be a genius to figure out what they've been up to and she shuddered at the thought. Lily was seated down beside her father devouring a giant bowl of spaghetti that Nivaline had just placed down in front of her and somehow managing to dump half of it on her once pristine white skirt. The former Angel herself was eating as well but was of course being more graceful and sedate about it as she gave Sakura a warm motherly smile. Kiyone, who had her back to her, wasn't much better than Lily trying to scull down a can of coke whilst simultaneously trying to fork in a mouthful of pasta at the same time. Sakura sighed and shook her head hiding a smile as she took a seat at the table, Nivaline immediately got up walking over to the stove and began filling up a plate for her as Meiling managed to snap out of her afterglow daze long enough to send Sakura a worried look before drifting back into fairyland. Sakura shuddered again as Nivaline placed a heaped up plate of pasta in front of her.

"Thanks," she beamed up at the former Angel as she began eating.

"How's your shoulder?" Tomoyo asked seating down beside her and picking up her fork again.

"You know, I took a nap and when I woke up it was perfectly fine," Sakura frowned as she put her fork down, "The cut was completely healed."

"Hmm…" Nivaline looked thoughtful, "It must be the key. It has the ability to heal its wielder amongst other things…"

"Can the other talismans do anything?" Tomoyo asked curiously, "We know that the key has healing abilities as well as some psychic powers in the form of telekinesis and that mind control thing… how about the sword and the mirror?"

"The sword…" Nivaline began glancing at Meiling.

The Asian Angel seemed dimly aware that something important was being said and managed to drag her attention away from the man seated beside her as she drew closer to them listening intently to what Nivaline had to say.

"Has the ability to protect its wielder from the elements. You know firestorms, lightning strikes, blizzards… you get the picture. I think it also allows the wielder a certain degree of control over the elements such as lighting a fire or causing water to freeze" Nivaline paused, "Or so the legend goes… the mirror on the hand is more of scrying device rather than a protection mechanism. According to what I have read, a person peering into its service can see into the future, present or even the past. They can also peer through the fabric of space and spy into other realms such as the Limbo which we all know so well."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Trust me, been there, done that, got the T-shirt," Sakura shrugged her shoulders, "Not exactly touristy."

Nivaline hid a smile as she continued.

"And the mirror also allows a user to connect to the spirit world. You know a Sixth Sense kind of thing…"

"You mean like…" Sakura felt her throat choke with emotion, "Mom?"

Nivaline nodded gravely as Sakura stared at her, blinking furiously. Tomoyo squirmed nervously realising the power she wielded.

"But there are several things to consider…" Nivaline warned, "Scrying particularly seeing into the future is vague at best. Talking to the spirit world… well lets just say not every ghost is Casper. Some can be… anti-humans."

The three Angels stared at each other.

"Well, that's all I know," Nivaline continued, "What the mirror can do is really a mystery. As you know Yue is very cryptic and mysterious and the mirror has been hidden for much of its existence. It may possess other powers that we do not know of…"

Tomoyo was silent as she began to realise that she was in over her head, not only was she supposed to wield the mirror but how could she when she didn't even know what it did? Worse even Nivaline didn't know! Tomoyo was starting to feel really unnerved about the whole thing…

"So when do we have to be at the airport?" Kiyone spoke up suddenly swallowing a mouthful of spaghetti as she talked.

"What do you mean we?" Sakura demanded.

"We're coming with you," Nivaline informed her.

"As in you and Kiyone?"

Nivaline nodded.

"Why?" Sakura asked confused.

"Sakura," Tomoyo informed her, "We have no idea where the book is aside from the fact that it's in Japan. It could take months to find!"

"Oooo… fun," Meiling drawled sarcastically, "Lots of it."

"What do you consider as fun?" Tomoyo enquired dryly, her sparkling eyes belying the tone of voice.

Meiling had the decency to blush as Sakura smothered a snigger.

"Our flight's at ten," Tomoyo replied answering Kiyone's question.

Sakura began eating again as the adults chattered idly, Lily bounding away from the table at some point eager to watch some late night cartoons on TV but only after she had changed out of her tomato sauce-stained clothes. The remaining people at the table excluding Sakura kept shooting worried glances at each other wondering how to broach the topic of Chelsea's death.

It was Nivaline who took the plunge.

"Sakura… do you want to talk?" Nivaline paused and clarified her question, "Chelsea…"

"There's nothing to talk about," Sakura said sharply, "We need to concentrate on the task at hand."

"Sakura," Meiling began, "It's really not healthy to keep ignoring your feelings…"

"Meiling, drop it," Sakura said coldly, "What would you know about this? You've never gone through what I'm going through. I'm responsible for my friend's death. Don't you dare tell me how to feel or how to react because none of you have ev…"

"Sakura," Marcus said suddenly catching the American Angel's eyes, "I've been there. I know what you're going through. The guilt… the questions… the rage… the despair."

Marcus sighed as Meiling realised what he was talking about and squeezed his hand comfortingly shooting him a small smile.

"When my wife… died," Marcus paused to collect himself sending a small grateful smile to Meiling as she squeezed his hand again, "I felt it was my fault. If I hadn't exposed Mallus… if I hadn't married her… she wouldn't have been dead. In a way I was responsible for her death…"

Marcus sighed as everyone stared at him; Nivaline, Kiyone and Tomoyo eyed him with a newfound respect as Meiling continued to silently support him willing Sakura to accept what he was saying.

"That's how I felt at the time," Marcus told Sakura, "I was responsible, I didn't deserve to live because if my wife hadn't known me… if I hadn't done the things I did… she would've still been alive. Sakura, it took me many years of grief and despair to realise that I wasn't. I suffered from it… Lily suffered from it. Sakura unless you actually start to deal with what you're feeling… start talking about it… start working through it you'll be overwhelmed by despair and self-hatred. You'll begin this downward spiral into depression. Deal, Sakura… don't hide it. Don't pretend it's not there… you have to…"

Sakura abruptly stood up.

"I think it's time to go," she said softly looking down at the table and refusing to meet their eyes.

Marcus smiled sadly at her as Tomoyo glanced at her watch and realised Sakura was actually right.

"She's right, we've got to leave," she informed the group.

Sakura walked up from them, still refusing to meet their eyes as the others got up.

"I love you," Meiling whispered kissing Marcus as he smiled back at her, love burning in his eyes, "Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks," Nivaline smiled at him softly giving him a small bow, "You're a very wise man and we're all very lucky in having you with us."

Marcus smiled at them as Nivaline, Kiyone and Tomoyo left leaving the two lovebirds to their farewell. They kissed one last time before Meiling broke away and gave him a tearful smile.

"Bye," she whispered.

"You better not get yourself killed," Marcus told her seriously, "Or I'll never speak to you again."

Meiling gave him one last watery smile before following after her fellow Angels. Marcus looked around at the table and began picking up the dirty dishes trying to push away his fears and worries.

"Lily," he called, "Come and help daddy do the dishes."

Lily sighed in frustration and walked into kitchen shooting her father a disgruntled look.

"I love you Lily," Marcus said suddenly, a soft smile on his lips as he gazed lovingly at his daughter.

Lily beamed up at her father.

"I love you too daddy," she chirped.

And father and daughter began washing the dishes.

* * *

Sakura remained silent throughout their long flight as her companions continued to worry over her mental and emotional health. More than once each of them wished they could see what was going on inside her head but it to no avail the American Angel remained lost in her own world the whole trip staring moodily out the plane window as the emerald land below gave out to sapphire seas, the steel wing of the plane slicing through fleecy clouds like scissors running through soft cotton. Totally oblivious to the world, Nivaline was out cold recovering from her spell casting as Meiling also remained silent no doubt pining after Marcus. Tomoyo and Kiyone chatted quietly trying to come up with a viable plan for when they landed in Japan but they always came back to the same problem: they had no idea where to look. After several hours of guess working, Tomoyo and Kiyone gave up with sighs of exasperation. 

Finally Sakura, Nivaline and Meiling joined reality when the pilot announced they were about to land in Tokyo International airport. With a small jolt, the plane landed as soon Angels and former Angels alike were strolling into busy airport complex.

"So did Syaoran say who his contact was?" Nivaline asked as she stifled a yawn.

Meiling shrugged.

"Didn't say," she replied.

"God," Tomoyo groaned, "He can be as cryptic as Yue sometimes, I swear it's so ann…"

"Good morning ladies," a mischievous voice said from behind them.

Kiyone barely curbed the urge to punch whoever it was that was flirting with them as the whole group turned around as one.

"Xiaolang," Meiling gasped.

The amber-eyed man that had helped them on several occasions gave the group a small bow.

"At your service," he said with a faint smile.

Sakura's eyes narrowed at him as she suddenly moved forwards and slapped him, hard.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo gasped, shocked at her friend's actions, as the others let out similar sounds of protests.

"You!" Sakura spat venomously, "If you haven't had left them, they wouldn't have died!"

"Who?" Xiaolang clutched his cheeks as Sakura glared at him.

Nivaline moved in to mediate.

"The Yamazakis," Nivaline informed him gently as she drew Sakura away.

The furious Angel allowed herself to be drawn away as sadness and guilt flashed across Xiaolang's face.

"I'm really sorry about Chelsea," Xiaolang paused, "Syaoran told me. I tried to help them as much as possible but they assured me that they would get to Bakersfield safely… if I knew someone was coming after them I would've…"

"Knew?!?" Sakura exploded drawing some of the passing people's attention, "They are naïve! They had no idea what they were messing with and you allowed them to go alone!?!"

Before anybody could react Sakura surged forwards and slapped Xiaolang across the face as Meiling for once got the pleasant task of curbing someone else's homicidal rage. She grabbed Sakura's arm and dragged the Angel away as Xiaolang rubbed his already red cheek.

"I deserved that," he said softly, "I'm very sorry for your lost. I know it's my fault… I just wish…"

"Don't worry," Nivaline assured the younger man, "Sakura just needs to calm down a little. It's been very stressful for her, all she needs is a good night's sleep and she'll be a completely different person."

She threw a quick worried glance at Sakura who had fallen silent by now, what shocked Nivaline however was her eyes. Instead of the blazing fury that had burned in them just seconds ago, there were twin pits of emerald despair and something Nivaline knew well: guilt. Sakura sagged into her friend's arms as Meiling supported her shooting the others a worried look.

"I think we need to find a hotel so Sakura can rest," she said firmly, her tone and glaring ruby eyes brooking no arguments.

"I've booked hotel rooms for us nearby," Xiaolang said quietly, "If you'll follow me?"

Soberly Xiaolang led them away from the busy airport as Sakura remained silent, lost in a sea of grief and overwhelming guilt.

* * *

"Is she okay?" 

Tomoyo nodded as she took a seat beside Meiling, their whole group plus Xiaolang but minus Sakura were having dinner in the hotel's top restaurant: a chance to unwind and relax before their next perilous mission but also a chance to discuss their next step. Tomoyo took a sip of her wine noting the richness of its flavour as a waiter descended onto their table quickly they ordered their meals as Tomoyo silently reminded herself this was a time to relax and enjoy herself. As she forced a warm smile onto her face she was oblivious to the fact that a pair of dark blue eyes were spying on her from all the way across the crowded dining room.

Eriol watched her from the bar, his mind slowly drifting back to their first date particularly how beautiful she had looked in the candlelight… Growling to himself, he shook his head throwing those images out of his mind's eye as he tried to concentrate on the task at hand.

His new mysterious boss had unexpectedly ordered him to catch a flight to Tokyo supplying him with the name of a famous hotel there without even bothering to tell him why he was going. Eriol had arrived at the airport and was shocked, to put it mildly, to see Tomoyo and her fellow Angels there speaking to a young man, which Eriol vaguely remembered as a powerful businessman based in Asia. He had quickly made himself scarce but he was smart enough to know why he had been sent here: to kill the Angels. So it was to his non-surprise when he found out that the Angels were also staying in the hotel that his boss had sent him to but how? He quickly swept his eyes across the Angels' table and noted that there was one girl missing… the auburn haired one.

Where was she?

Eriol frowned but pushed it out of his head. He had concentrate! He had this thing planned: Tomoyo had to be the first to go. Once the hard part was over…

Eriol sighed knowing deep within his soul he couldn't do it but maybe if he was drunk enough…

He quickly ordered another drink.

* * *

Dinner had been pleasant; the flow of conversations steady but there was an underlying tension to everything they said. Whilst they had attempted to discuss the problem of where to look for the third book, they had decided to talk about it with Sakura in the morning as none of them really wanting to spoil their only chance for some down time before plunging into the no doubt dangerous search for the third book. However there was some topics they were all definitely skirting around: Sakura and Chelsea namely. None of they brought up Chelsea and none of them commented on Sakura's current state, it was as though a silent agreement had been struck between the diners to not talk about them tonight. After the last sip of wine had been drunk and last delicious morsel of desert had been savoured, they leaned back in their seats as waiters began talking their empty plates away. 

"So what do you want to do now?" Meiling asked, her ruby eyes sweeping over the occupants of the table.

"Bed?" Nivaline smothered a yawn, "Call me old but I feel very tired all of a sudden."

"Old," Kiyone smirked

Nivaline rolled her eyes.

"You're basically the same age as me," the former Angel reminded the other woman.

"I'm eight months younger," Kiyone corrected.

"And ten years more immature," Nivaline retorted.

"Come on girls," Meiling broke in, "Play nice."

The two former Angels narrowed their eyes at the smirking Angel as Tomoyo and Xiaolang just managed to smother their laughter.

"Young people these days…" Nivaline said with a mocking scowl.

"Come on granny," Kiyone drawled, "Let's get you up to bed."

Nivaline rolled her eyes at Kiyone as she stood up.

"Seriously I think we need our rest," she warned the others, "Tomorrow will no doubt be… challenging."

She glanced at Kiyone.

"Just make sure you get some rest rather than flirting with every bellboy that comes your way," she told the other woman with a small smirk.

"Like you haven't been visually molesting them," Kiyone snapped.

"And on that disturbing note, I'm leaving," Meiling jumped up and left before anyone else could say anything, "Oh, and Tomoyo I'll check back home for you."

Tomoyo rolled her eyes.

"Just don't steam up the phone with your… conversations. Remember that Marcus does have an innocent little daughter hanging around," Tomoyo warned her with a small smile, "Plus you need to sleep."

Meiling glared at her before she left as Tomoyo hid a smirk. Nivaline shook her head and gave them a final smile.

"Oh and I'll check on Sakura," she told them before leaving.

Kiyone looked around.

"I think I'll go to the bar," she said with a wicked smirk, "That bartender looks kind of cute!"

She jumped up and made a beeline to the bar sending the bartender a brilliant grin chock full of flirty goodness as Tomoyo raised an eyebrow.

"Adults," she muttered with a small shake of her head.

"I think I better settle the bill," Xiaolang said with a small polite smile, "Then I think I'll also head to my rooms."

Tomoyo offered a small smile as the young man got up and left her alone at the table. She looked at Xiaolang contemplatively lost in her thoughts, she knew that Xiaolang had a… thing for Sakura and she instinctively knew that the attraction was mutual. But the latest problems with Chelsea's death and Sakura's accusations seemed to have driven a wedge between those two.

He's nice… and not too hard on the eyes Tomoyo thought biting her lip, her lavenders gazing emptily forwards as she mulled over the idea of those two together They would suit one another quite well plus they make a cute couple but Sakura isn't in the mood to see anyone right now

With a sigh, she realised that it could be a long time before Sakura considered seeing anyone as she got up and left the restaurant still lost in her own thoughts unaware that a young blue-haired man had detached himself from the bar and was following her through the busy restaurant. She entered the hotel foyer as she made her way to the elevator still lost in her own thoughts. She entered the lift and pressed a button waiting patiently for the door to close.

"Wait!"

Tomoyo jumped as someone forced the door open, familiar blue eyes stared into her as she blinked at the man thunderstruck.

"Eriol?!?" she gasped.

"Tomoyo!" Eriol smiled at her, "Fancy seeing you here! What are you doing?"

He entered the lift as the door closed behind him.

"I'm uh… uh…"

Suddenly the lift seemed very small as Tomoyo felt a faint blush bloom on her pale cheeks.

"Designing! Festival!" Tomoyo managed to stammer out finally as Eriol beamed his killer smile at her.

Tomoyo felt her knees turn watery as Eriol began pouring on the charm, the wicked smile still intact on his face. Casually she leant against the wall of the lift in an attempt to start herself from shaking as she gathered enough wit around her to smile back at him.

"You?"

"Business as usual," Eriol smiled at her, "I certainly didn't expect to see you here. So what festival is there? I don't remember reading about any major fashion show going on."

"Oh, it's nothing big," Tomoyo lied, "I meant to say ceremony. See, one of my friends in Japan invited me to a traditional tea ceremony whilst I'm over here. I'm here to draw inspiration for my latest range and I would love to see the kimonos they wear at those ceremonies, I'm pretty sure to get some good ideas for some new dresses from that."

She smiled at Eriol as a thought came into her head.

"I don't remember you ever telling me what you did actually," she said with a thoughtful frown.

"Oh, software," Eriol pulled a face, "I know… it's boring but hey! The money's good."

Tomoyo smiled as with a soft ding the lift jolted to a stop and the door slid open.

"And here's my floor," she glanced shyly at Eriol, "You want to follow?"

He beamed at her.

"I'd love to."

* * *

"Love you too," Meiling said contentedly before hanging up the phone. 

A small knock on her door made her frown as she jumped nimbly off her bed and went to the door. Cautiously she opened it revealing a worried looking Nivaline.

"Nivaline," Meiling frowned, "Is something wrong?"

"It's Sakura," Nivaline sighed, "I went into her room and well… she wasn't sleeping well."

Meiling raised an eyebrow as Nivaline sighed.

"Okay screaming on top of her voice," she clarified, "I did a little spell…"

"Spell?"

Nivaline nodded.

"A simple one. It's an… empathy spell," she explained, "Basically I tapped into Sakura's sub-conscious to see what she was feeling…"

"What was she feeling?" Meiling asked concernedly.

Nivaline sighed as she shook her head.

"Guilt with a massive side of anger," Nivaline stopped and pursed her lips, "And also some satisfaction…"

She noticed Meiling's look and rolled her eyes.

"Not that way!" she scolded, "Jeez… some people. More in a bloody vengeance, Kill Bill kind of way."

"She killed Lilia?" Meiling guessed.

Nivaline shook her head.

"She said she didn't and I believe her," the former Angel paused, "I know for sure that whoever killed Chelsea was a pro. I think Sakura managed to find out who it was and killed him… or her."

"That would explain why she disappeared off so quickly," Meiling said thoughtfully, "And also explains her shoulder."

"Should we ask her about it?" Nivaline asked.

Meiling shook her head.

"Nah, I think it's best if she gets some undisturbed sleep."

Nivaline nodded knowing as well as Meiling that Sakura was far from fine and needed as much sleep as she could get.

"I'll look in on her again," Nivaline promised, "Perhaps I can place some kind of sleeping spell to ensure she rests…"

Still frowning thoughtfully Nivaline left room leaving a very confused Meiling behind.

* * *

Sakura woke up and glanced out the window, it was morning if the pale shafts of light piercing the curtains were anything to judge by. She sat up and groaned knowing that if she looked into a mirror, she would see an insomniac madwoman. Blearily she rubbed her hands over her eyes, dragging herself out of the twisted bed sheets that threatened to ensnare her body. Standing up she walked to the window and pulled her curtains back allowing cold pale light to spill onto her face. She stared unseeingly at the congested city sprawl below, the nightmares from the night before dancing around her head into an endless demonic cycle. 

"Chelsea…" Sakura whispered, her emerald eyes feverish.

Last night had been hell. Every time she tried to sleep images of Chelsea would haunt her. The dream was always the same: she would find herself on a long stretch of dusty road, the sun an accusing eye blazing down from the sapphire heavens. She would walk and soon or later stumble upon her friend's body and always, always that guttural voice… accusing her… condemning her… questioning her…

"Why?" the voice had one point said, "Why do you always hurt the ones you love?"

Sakura forced herself away from those dark memories as she stood in front of the window allowing the bright morning sun to sear the fears of the night away from her mind. Wearily she turned around and walked over to her bags, which was splayed open on the floor. She pulled out a wrinkled piece of clothing and pulled it on before walking to the door opening it and left looking for something with a heavy dose of caffeine in it.

She had a feeling she would need all the energy she could get.

Today was going to be a killer.

* * *

Tomoyo woke up and smiled remembering the magical events of last night. It had been a surprise, a pleasant one yes but still a shock seeing Eriol inside this very hotel. 

What are the chances? she mused with a small smile dancing across her face as she slowly turned over.

Fate Tomoyo smiled It was all fate

Last night had been… indescribable. The emotions she had felt were almost overwhelming but one thing she knew for sure: she had fallen in love, deeply and madly in love with Eriol Moon. It had been like all those old clichés… so unexpected and surreal yet she knew that her feelings were so real it was almost a tangible thing. Tomoyo decided right then and there she would tell Eriol of this revelation and she knew that in her heart, he felt the same about her.

How else could he have smiled at her with so much adoration and longing?

How else could he have kissed her with so much tenderness and passion?

Love, that was the only answer to those questions. There were still many hurdles to cross, Tomoyo knew that, her true identity for one. But as old saying goes, love conquers all and theirs would be no different…

She froze.

The space beside her was empty. The bed sheets rumpled, the pillow dented a little where Eriol had slept on it. But it was cold now, no sign of the warm body she had curled against just the night before.

"Eriol?" Tomoyo whispered softly.

Her voice got louder.

"Eriol?!?" she leapt out of bed, "Eriol?"

Hurriedly she wrapped the blanket around her body as she looked around wildly.

"Eriol?"

The door to the bathroom was closed.

"Eriol?" she twisted the knob open and stepped inside.

Eriol was inside, his back to her as he stared at something unseen on the pristine white walls.

"Jeez, you scared me," Tomoyo laughed, "You should've answered."

He remained silent.

"Eriol?" Tomoyo asked worriedly slowly stepping towards him, "Are you okay?"

"I love you," Eriol's rough voice ripped through the silence.

Tomoyo felt a huge beaming smile blossom on her face as her heart rejoiced in those words.

He loves me!! Tomoyo's inner voice screamed deliriously

"But I shouldn't," Eriol continued.

Tomoyo froze.

"What? Why? When?" she stammered.  
"I know I shouldn't but I can't help it!"

Fury seeped into Eriol's voice as the blue-haired man whirled around, his eyes blazing with some kind of inner fire. Cool blue became liquid fire as those twin orbs drilled into Tomoyo's mind. Longing, love, anger, frustration and lose danced into a hopeless maelstrom through the windows to his confused soul as Tomoyo took a step backwards overwhelmed by what she was seeing and sensing.

"Eriol," she gently reached a hand forwards.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Eriol screamed suddenly taking a threatening step forwards.

Tomoyo jumped back hurriedly as Eriol stalked towards her, tears now streaming down his face.

What? I don't… how? Doesn't he… her usually cool and calm mind had been reduced to a tangle of nerves and screaming half-finished sentences as Eriol continued to weep, blue eyes turning red as his hands began clenching and unclenching, his breath choked and laboured.

"I can't…" he whispered, his voice plummeting down from rage to despair in the blink of an eye, "I just can't… we can't."  
"Can't what?" Tomoyo whispered her voice betraying her confusion, "Can't love me? Why? I know you do… please Eriol don't lie."

"I do but I… can't. We mustn't be together. We just can't."

"Why? Tell me! Why?" Tomoyo yelled at him feeling her still beating heartbreak, "You love me, damn it! You said so! There is no reason why we can't or shouldn't or couldn't or any other goddamn synonym for no! You love me!"

"And that's why this is so hard," Eriol gave a harsh laugh, his whole demeanour changing suddenly.

He had slowly backed Tomoyo out the bathroom and into the main area of the hotel room by now, the early morning sun streaming through the tiny sliver of space that divided the two thick drapes that hung over the windows. Eriol's eyes blazed in the dimness as Tomoyo felt tears of confusion and frustration begin to stream down her face.

"Hard!?! Life is hard! Whatever it is we can beat it! I don't care!" Tomoyo whispered, "I just don't care! I don't! I don't! I. Just. Don't."

"This is wrong, Tomoyo," Eriol said shaking his head as he backed away slowly, "Wrong. I'm sorry… Oh god! Why couldn't it be simpler? It wasn't supposed to turn out like this!"

"Turn out like what? What was it meant to be like?" Tomoyo demanded angrily, "You came into my life just…"

She snapped her fingers.

"Like that… you were there and perfect and we felt something. I know you felt something especially last night! I know it and don't you dare go around telling me I shouldn't feel like this because you make me the most happiest person in the world!"

"Tomoyo…" Eriol whispered, "Do you know who I am?"

Tomoyo blinked in confusion.

"What?"

"Do you know how we met?"

"At the cafe… "

"Not where," Eriol said gently, "How?"

"Huh?" Tomoyo frowned in confusion, "I don't underst…"

"It was calculated."

Tomoyo froze.

"I was meant to be there. You were meant to fall for me. It was meant to happen and I don't mean destiny and fate and all that Hallmark rubbish. I meant for you to fall for me so it would be easier…"

The air seemed to have been sucked out of the room as silent spread its noiseless veil over them.

"For what?" Tomoyo whispered.

"Easier to kill you."

It was like getting shot in the chest, the metal bullet ripping through the meaty organ called her heart. It was if a shotgun had been fired, tearing through her body and leaving her as a mocking husk of a human: dead, numb and unfeeling. Tears cascaded down her face leaving trails of salt on her pale skin. Her mind simply shut down refusing to react, refusing to work, refusing… everything. Her soul seemed to rage and turn on itself tearing itself to pieces as she stared at him, not understanding. Refusing to comprehend what this man, this man she loved with all her heart, was telling her.

"No."

"I was meant to kill you. That night, the dinner date… I tried but I couldn't," Eriol calmly reached into his rumpled jacket pocket and pulled out something.  
The dark eye of the gun's barrel stared at her as Tomoyo stared back, still reeling from what was happening to her.

"I couldn't but I must."

"Why?"

"To save myself."

"But…"

"I love you but… but…" Eriol sighed as his hands trembled, the barrel of the gun wavering dangerously, "But I… I… I'm sorry."

"That's it?" Tomoyo whispered tearfully, "I thought you…"

"I do."

"Then don't. You don't have to. You didn't have to before. We can be together… you can quit. You can," Tomoyo stared at him, tears gushing down her cheeks, "We can be…"

"We can't. I love myself more," Eriol smiled bitterly, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry!" Tomoyo screamed, "If you love someone you'll do anything for them! You don't just love someone then kill them!"

"It's either me doing it or him and he… what he'll do to you will be beyond imagination. The powers he possess are vast… you'll die screaming and begging," Eriol's aim steadied itself as he seemed to calm down, "I love you, I'm protecting you. That's why I'm doing this."

"Go to hell. Don't make excuses, you bastard! You don't love me! You never did! Tell me the truth, you never loved m…"

A gunshot rang through the air.

* * *

Sakura jumped as an eerily similar sound exploded through the air. 

"Gunshot," she whispered looking around worriedly, "Where the hell?"

She sprinted to her door and flinging it open ran out into the hallway. A few metres down another door flung open, Sakura's eyes widened as she realised which room it was.

"TOMOYO!" the American Angel yelled.

A man collided straight into her as he sprinted out from Tomoyo's room. Sakura was sent sprawling on the ground as the man hip and shouldered her flinging her roughly aside. With a growl of anger Sakura swung around and tried to grab the man around the ankles however with a quick kick of the man's leg, her fingers slipped and he darted away from her ducking through into another hallway. Sakura leapt up and started to run after him until she remembered about her fellow Angel.

"Tomoyo!" she ran into her friend's room.

She froze at the sight that greeted her.

Tomoyo sprawled across the hotel room floor, her chest an oozing mess of red. Her eyes staring unseeingly up into the ceiling as blood soaked into the creamy carpet beneath her colouring each fibre into a dark crimson.

Sakura stared at her friend, her body numbed by the sight before her. Her mind seemed unable to comprehend what was going on.

"TOMOYO!" Sakura leapt towards her friend and collapsed by her side, "Tomoyo!"

She shook her friend's already cold body again and again.

She was still, cold and… dead.

"NO!" Sakura yelled, "TOMOYO! WAKE UP, DAMN IT! WAKE UP!!!"  
She howled at her friend over and over again.

No reply, just a pair of pale lavender eyes staring up at her with a glassy stare frozen by death.

"No. No. No. No," with each word she muttered, Sakura's voice became more and more deeper, lower, more guttural.

"NO!" she screamed as the key around her neck blazed with light, "HEAL HER! GOD DAMN IT!"  
Gold light burst from the key and trailed down her arm like lengths of golden ribbons twining around her fingers as she pressed them against her friend's cold body. Gold tendrils burst from Sakura's fingertips sinking into Tomoyo's skin as the empowered Angel forced her magic to work.

"Heal her! Heal her!" Sakura screamed over and over again as the gold light grew in strength turning from a mere pinpoint of light into a blazing sun, "HEAL HER!"  
"NO!"  
Sakura's body was flung backwards as an invisible forced battered her throwing her aside.

"She is beyond your power," Kerberos's visage appeared from the depths of the gold light, his amber eyes blazing with smouldering power, "To try to heal her would be to dance with death."

"I don't care!" Sakura screamed back at him.

"NO!"  
Once again a force slapped Sakura to the ground as Kerberos glared at her.

"You could both die!"

"If you won't help me," Sakura said slowly and carefully glaring at Kerberos with golden eyes, "Then get the hell away from ME!"  
Kerberos screamed in pain as a burst of energy sprung from Sakura's eyes and struck the guardian. Gold light devoured his image as Sakura crawled back to Tomoyo.

"MIRROR!" she screamed, power surging through every cell of her body, "COME TO ME!"

One of Tomoyo's bags suddenly burst open tearing at the seams as the third talisman, Yue's mirror, floated up into the air in a blaze of silver light. The hard glass surface rippled as though it was water as Sakura stretched her hands over at the talisman, gold light fusing with silver as she plunged into the depths of the mirror's power.

"Come to me," she whispered sending out her magic, "Come to me."

A wisp of smoke that twisted and twirled each movement producing a different colour from its smoky depths floated out from the rippling mirror surface dragged out by a net of silver and gold light.

Somehow Sakura knew that this… thing was Tomoyo's departed spirit dragged out from the netherworld by her power utilising the mirror as a gateway. Suddenly the wisp that was Tomoyo's spirit was gripped by ghostly hands that tried to yank it back into the mirror, Sakura gritted her teeth and plunged more of her magic into the mirror trying to shred the power that threatened to plunge Tomoyo's spirit back into the underworld.

With a ghostly shriek that rattled the windows and set Sakura's teeth on edge, the hands were shoved violently back into the mirror as Sakura's magic gripped Tomoyo's spirit and plunged it straight into her friend's cold body. A small piece of crumpled metal, the bullet that had slain Tomoyo floated up into the air borne by tendrils of silver and gold light removing itself from the gaping wound in the Angel's chest as Sakura concentrated forcing broken bone and muscles to knit back together. All internal bleeding stop as the wound was healed, pale skin covering the area where the mortal wound had been.

With a final burst of light and power Sakura shoved the spirit into Tomoyo's fully healed body. With a feral scream, Sakura unleashed all her magic to do her will as a force ten times more powerful than the one Kerberos had used on her threw her across the room and crushed her against the wall. Her vision turned black as she gasped for breath, her arms flailing wildly trying to break free from the spectral hand that now gripped her.

The world shook and rumbled as the sky seethed and roared, the ocean rose and fell into cataclysmic watery mountains and valleys as time itself seemed to grind to a halt.

Then all at once everything fell silent.

The ground settled.

The sky gave one last rumble then stilled.

The ocean gave a final violent hiss then calmed.

Time moved forwards once more.

And in the silence that followed, a small hesitant voice spoke.

"Sakura?"

Sakura managed to catch a blurry glimpsed of Tomoyo, alive and well, staring at her worriedly before her mind and body gave out and she succumbed into oblivion.

* * *

_'This world both physical, natural and magical is about balance. Every mage knows that. Like fire and water, the earth and the sea, the sun and the moon… it's all about balance. It's physics: every action had a reaction.'_

As Sakura lay slumped on the floor, Tomoyo crawled to her slowly every single muscle in her body aching.

"Sakura!" she cried, "Sakura! What happened? Are you alright?"

With her back turned to the mirror Tomoyo was oblivious to the fact that the surface of the mirror was rippling again. The now liquid surface bulged outwards as though something was about to burst through. A thin trail of black smoke shot out from the mirror as the liquid surface rippled and wobbled once more before resettling into hard glass. The smoke drifted through the air twirling this way and that way before finally descending onto Tomoyo's back, it seemed to seep into her body but the Japanese Angel was not aware of it. The black smoky substance, whatever it was, disappeared into her body as its host tried to wake up her unconscious friend.

"Sakura! Sakura! Talk to me!"

_Every action has a reaction._

_It's all about balance._

* * *

"What happened?" 

Sakura let out a low groan and rubbed her tender temples gently as she struggled to open her eyes.

Once she had pried them open, she looked around wondering what was going on. Meiling looked down worriedly at her.

"Sakura?" she whispered.

Sakura groaned, Meiling's low voice amplifying in her ears causing it to become a dull roar that jarred her senses.

"She's awake!" Meiling called to someone behind her, "She's awake!"

Sakura winced.

"Meiling…" she began, her voice a dry croak, "Please… don't yell."

Meiling grimaced and made a small apologetic nod as three more faces appeared behind her.

"What happened?" Kiyone asked worriedly looking down at the unnaturally pale Sakura.

"She worked some big mojo here," Nivaline explained, "Big mojo bordering on dark arts."

"Voldermort style?" Kiyone quipped.

Nivaline rolled her eyes at her fellow ex-Angel before focusing again on Sakura.

"Tomoyo," Sakura whispered urgently, "How? Where is she?"

"Right here," the Japanese Angel appeared from the midst of faces looking down at her, "What did you…"

"What happened?" Sakura demanded as she struggled to sit up.

"Shouldn't we be asking you that question?" Nivaline asked arching an eyebrow.

"I heard a gunshot…" Sakura began.

"So did I," Kiyone muttered, "Wondered where the hell it came from."

Sakura ignored her comment as she continued.

"I ran outside to find out where it came from and then Tomoyo's door flung open and this man charged out bowling me over. I was going to run after him until I remembered Tomoyo and when I ran into her room…" Sakura paused trying to grapple with the bloody mental image inside her head, "Tomoyo… she was on the ground. Shot… dead."

"Dead?" Xiaolang whispered horrified, "Oh god."

"Oh god, what?" Meiling demanded, "What's with the 'oh god'? This isn't a I-won-the-lottery 'oh god' is it?"

"You raised the dead," Xiaolang murmured looking at Sakura in awe, "But how?"

"The key," Sakura shrugged, "Mirror helped."

"I was dead?" Tomoyo demanded, freaking out, "But… how?"

"The key," Nivaline began slowly, "You must have activated it… its healing abilities. But Tomoyo was dead, so your power fused with that of the mirrors using it as a gateway to the spirit world to drag her spirit back into this and forcing it into Tomoyo's body…"

She paused.

"But that's…"

"Impossible," Xiaolang finished, "Yet here's proof."

Tomoyo fidgeted nervously as everyone stared at her.

"What?" she bristled, "I didn't do anything!"

"Hey," Kiyone narrowed her eyes at her, "How did you get shot?"

Tomoyo paused as she struggled to keep her emotions in check.

Eriol… how could you? her heart mourned but years of training kept her face impassive.

"An assassin from Spinnel Corporation. Broke in here," she said shortly, "Shot me before I could do a damn thing."

There was a silence as everyone digested that piece of news.

"We need to get away from here if Spinnel Corporation knows we're here," Nivaline sighed, "Sakura? How are you holding up?"

"Surprising well for someone who feels like she's just been ran over multiple times and left out on the road to die," Sakura muttered before sighing and plastering a smile on her face, "I'm fine."

"Good, we need to move out," Nivaline looked at her companions, "Any questions?"

"No," Kiyone muttered, "Mom."

"Hey!"

* * *

Psuedo-Sakura stared around at her surroundings completely unimpressed by the grandeur landscape of snow and ice that draped over the rocky mountains of the Japanese Alps like a delicate white scarf. Chilly winds slapped her skin but the magical doppelganger pressed on fighting against the elements as she trudged through the thick snow. 

"Stupid mountain!" Psuedo-Sakura yelped as she slipped over and her face slammed into the snow, "Blasted…"

"LEAVE!" a booming voice screeched at her ripping through the air, borne by a jet of icy wind, "This is my domain and I command you to LEAVE!"

Psuedo-Sakura stumbled to her feet and was almost knocked over again by a powerful buffet of snow and wind but she steadied herself at the last moment and glared in the voice's general direction.

"I come from Yue, you stupid ice statue!" she yelled, "Don't you want to hear what your lover has to say to you?"

Instantly the wind died down as an eerie silence permeated the mountain air.

"Yue…" a soft, definitely feminine, voice whispered sounding like a breeze of wind gliding through the air, "What does he have to say…"

Another silence descended around Psuedo-Sakura as the magical creature looked around nervously.

"AFTER HE ABANDONED ME!!!" the sky roared as a blizzard crashed down from the skies battering the earth with ice and snow.

Psuedo-Sakura gasped in pain as razor shards of ice ripped into her body leeching every bit of warmth from her. When she began to feel frost form on her skin she knew she was in trouble.

"Stop!" she yelled trying to overpower the roar of the wind, "STOP!"

The storm didn't abate in its fury as Psuedo-Sakura fell to her knees unable to withstand the strength of the blizzard.

"HE WANTS TO SEE YOU!!!!" Psuedo-Sakura screamed as a last ditch ploy.

The blizzard abruptly stopped.

"What?" the voice came to her again as a gentle breeze in the calm mountain air.

"But…" Psuedo-Sakura staggered back to her feet as a small smirk danced across her lips.

It seemed her plan was actually going to work after all…

"But only if you can do something for him…"

* * *

"What the friggin' hell happened?" Meiling managed to mutter through chattering teeth. 

Beside her Kiyone clawed her way out from the snowdrift that had buried her as all around them the rest of their friends were doing the same.

"Power," Nivaline whispered clutching her head, "It's so overwhelming."

"And the rage and fury," Syaoran added in an almost reverent tone, "It's so strong."

"Are you sure it's here?" Sakura asked dumping herself down onto the snow and ignoring the bite of the cold on her skin.

She looked around at the glaringly white landscape, which seemed devoid of everything aside from one or two trees that poked out from the ground.

"There's like nothing here," Meiling muttered.

"It's here," Tomoyo said wearily, "I saw it here."

"The Japanese Alps," Nivaline mused, "Who would've ever guessed the third book was here…"

She looked around.

"Somewhere here," she corrected herself.

"So can we move already?" Kiyone demanded struggling to stand with two skis strapped to her feet.

Likewise the rest of the group did the same gingerly standing up, the skis they were wearing hindering their movements.

"There," Syaoran pointed in a northern direction, "The power came from there."

"Are you even sure it's the book?" Sakura asked peering at the direction he was pointing at, "There's nothing there."

"You got a better plan?" Meiling muttered.

With that the whole group moved towards the supposed source of the awesome power that had just dumped a blizzard onto the heads moments ago. Hard skis glided through powder soft snow as they continued forwards in a straight line, one after the one with Nivaline in the lead and Tomoyo at the back. The Japanese Angel didn't mind, it did give her a chance to think even though the thoughts in her head weren't exactly comforting.

"Eriol…" Tomoyo whispered feeling that queer tearing pain in her chest again as though her heart was shredding itself to pieces.

"Wha?" Kiyone looked behind her at the suddenly pale woman, "You okay?"

Tomoyo forced a smile on her face and nodded even though that was far from the real truth.

How could he have do that to her? Lie to her? Did he really even love her?

Tears were beginning to form but Tomoyo shook her head angrily flinging them away into the cool air. She bit down onto her lip and struggled for control as those endless questions tormented again and again, the things that Eriol said whirling around in her head in an endless painful cycle.

He was murderer.

Sent to kill her… and yet she loved him.

Why? Why? What had she done to deserve this? How could he love her and yet shot her? Was this love? This cruel pain in her heart? Was this it?

How could she go on with this dark secret haunting her every conscious moment? How could she go on without him? How…

"INCOMING!" Nivaline barked.

"What the hell?"

Everyone looked up only to see a giant blazing globe of cool azure light soar across the sky heading straight for them with malicious purpose.

"What the?"

"DUCK!" Nivaline yelled.

The light sped up growing in size as everybody leapt away.

"BOOM!"

It crashed into the earth spraying everyone with snow as azure light illuminated the area blinding all of them.

"Oh god…" Sakura whispered as the light faded and she could see the impact site.

Glittering ice refracted the sun's ray creating a kaleidoscope of rainbow colours as long jags of frozen ice pointed accusingly at them as though trying to command the silly humans that had managed to stumble into its territory to leave. The group slowly stumbled to their feet eyeing the five metre wide patch of ice carefully.

"Okay… that was freaky," Kiyone muttered.

"It's still emanating magic," Nivaline murmured.

"That can't be good," Sakura whispered.

A huge crack zipped across the glassy ice surface. Another one appeared followed by another and then another. The ice was split into a dozen huge slabs before the cracking stopped and azure light began to blaze out from the cracked surface.

"Not good," Sakura muttered with wide open eyes watching the glowing ice as it began to move.

A clump of ice broke free from the patch as the group backed off slowly not knowing what was happening. Another lump shifted even as the slab beside it moved as well, in a few seconds the patch had broken up into twelve separate blocks that rocked and glowed. The light died down as the lumps of ice continued to rock backwards and forwards. Flakes of ice peeled away from one of the blocks whilst another did the same. Tomoyo watched in horror as the ice broke in several pieces creating angular points and bends.

"Oh shi…" Kiyone swore as the glowing stopped.

Twelve skeletal-like creatures with jagged horns and talons stood in the snow sunlight lending their icy bodies a powerful glow. Without warning the azure light blazed again filling each creature with an internal light, in the jagged lump of ice that served as their heads two particularly strong pinpoints of light blazed where eyes would normally go.

"What are those?" Meiling whispered as the twelve ice-demons all swerved their heads to glare at them.

"Trouble," Nivaline muttered back.

Ice exploded from the ice-demon's backs as something sprouted form their thin spine, two delicate flakes of ice each about two metres long grew from each of the ice-demons back.

"Are those…" Tomoyo began.

Each demon gave the ice flakes on their backs an experimental flap before glaring at the intruders and taking to the air, their unnatural ice wings somehow defying physics as it lent the demonic ice creatures flight.

"If the next word out of your mouth was wings. I'd say yes," Meiling stared at the creatures as they glared back, "Run?"

"Oh yeah," Sakura replied, "RUN!"

They all whirled away from the creatures and tried to ski away as fast as possible but the ice-demons were on them high-pitched screeches emitting from their mouths.

"FIGHT THEM!" Nivaline yelled to them before throwing herself onto the ground, her skis tangling even as she pointed at one of ice-demons.

"HUO!" she commanded.

A sheet of flame crashed into the ice-demon forcing a screech of pain from it as two more fell from the sky to descend onto the woman.

"Hey! Back off!" Meiling barked.

She grabbed her bracelet yanking the ruby charm away from her wrist.

"Blade of Clow! Power of magic! Power of light! Surrender the sword! The force ignite!" she chanted, "RELEASE!"

In a burst of light, the Clow sword fell into her hands as Meiling glared at the ice-demons challengingly.

"FIERY!" she commanded the card falling into her hand, "RELEASE AND DISPEL! BAKE THESE CREATURES!"  
Jets of red flames drilled into the demons forcing them away from Nivaline but even though fire had proved effective against the demons they were far from finished.

Sakura grabbed her key ready to join the fight.

"Key of Stars with powers burning bright! Release the staff and shine your light!" Sakura cried, "Release!"

Golden light blazed from the key as Sakura waited for her talisman to appear, with now warning at all the light died out.

"What?" Sakura gasped as an immense pain roared through her body.

She fell to her knees.

"Ow," she panted for breath, "Ow."

"SAKURA!" Syaoran was at her side, "You okay?"

"Healing Tomoyo…" Sakura whispered, "Took too much out of me. My magic's sucked dry."

"Don't worry. I got y…"

"WATCH OUT!"

An ice-demon lunged at them but Syaoran merely rammed his ski pole into its head forcing it backwards. Whispering under his breath, too quiet for even Sakura to hear, Syaoran held out his hands. White light gathered in his palms before fading revealing an ancient-looking long sword.

"What?"

"You're not the only one with a talisman," Syaoran smirked at her.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Fire, COME FORTH!" Syaoran roared pointed his sword at the ice-demon he had injured.

Fire burst from the blade's tip engulfing the creature as it screeched in pain and hurriedly backed off. Syaoran bore down at it with the flames but with a flick of its wing, the creature took to the air avoiding the blast.

Meiling was engaged in combat with an ice-demon, metal blade clashing with icy talons as they parried each other blow for blow. Kiyone was attacking another demon with her ski poles, the tiny metal point on each pole leaving small punctures all over the demon's icy frame.

"HUO!" Nivaline fried another ice-demon beating it backwards with a wave of flame as Tomoyo sneaked up behind it battering it in the head with her discarded skis.

"Lightning!" Syaoran commanded.

Bolts of blue lightning descended from the skies frying the ice-demon. It screeched in pain and stumbled backwards as skeletal fingers of lightning charred its hard body leaving smoking gouges. It screeched again before raising its wings and folded them over its body like a shield deflecting the lightning attack.

"FIRE!" the mage pointed its sword at the demon and let loose a stream of red flame.

With a huge shriek, the ice-demon leapt over the attack and kicked Syaoran in the chest with its icy cloven feet. Syaoran fell to the ground, the ice-demon descending on him like a glittering vulture its icy talons ready for the kill. Sakura swung her ski pole around and punched through its eye leaving a gaping hole.

"Back off, Frosty," Sakura snarled ripping the pole free, "Before I make ice chips out of you."

The ice-demon clutched its eyes and screeched in pain as Sakura tracked its movements waiting for it to attack.

"HA!" Meiling kicked at her opponent sending it stumbling backwards.

"Take this!" Kiyone grabbed her ice-demon's clawed arm and threw it away with all her strength.

The two ice-demons slammed into each other, back-to-back, Kiyone darted forwards and rammed her ski pole home driving the metal shaft through the two demon's chest pinning them together.

"Hey! Want to see my impersonation of Xena?" Meiling let out a huge war cry and swung her sword around.

The two ice-demon's head were cleaved off, their headless body hitting the snow as their heads shattered. The azure light died out from their bodies as Meiling smirked at them.

"Xena?" Kiyone asked.

Meiling shrugged.

"Sorry, lame pun."

"Damn right."

Meiling rolled her eyes at her and whirled around only to see Tomoyo successfully club her ice-demon's head to mere ice chips with her skis.

Nivaline reduced one to muddles by immolating it with wave after wave of flames. Sakura tripped one ice-demon up by hitting it behind its icy knees shattering the leg completely before stepping away allowing Syaoran to slice its icy body in two.

The remaining ice-demons some sporting burns and gouges on their icy bodies backed away wearily hissing and spitting at them.

"We'll attack at once," Meiling whispered, "Xiaolang. Nivaline. Use fire, I'll summon the Fiery again. Tomoyo, Sakura, Kiyone wait until the fire dies then attack them. Okay?"

Everyone nodded their assent. Meiling raised her sword.

"FIERY CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

"HUO!"  
"FIRE! COME FORTH!"

An immense firestorm sprung from thin air ripping through the snowy grounds towards the ice-demons intent on reducing each of them to water molecules. Meiling smirked as the ice-demons began panicking screeching at each other and trying to shove one its own brethren in front of it as a vain shield.

"Come on," Meiling whispered, "Got you now."

With no warning at all, a huge blast of freezing air slammed into the firestorm easily extinguishing the flames as everyone stared.

"What the?"

"YOU DARE FIGHT ME AND MINE?!?" a voice roared echoing around the mountains, "PREPARE TO FACE TRUE POWER!"

A mini tornado of ice and snow sprung up between the humans and the ice-demons, growing in size with each passing moment. A vaguely human-like shape glowing with internal white light was forming as everyone stared at it.

"HURRY! BLAST HER!" Meiling yelled, "FIERY! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A veritable blizzard laced with azure and white light burst from the tornado ripping through the Fiery's attack and flinging Meiling backwards as it crashed into her. Meiling landed several metres away as the winds died down revealing the person concealed within.

Icy blue eyes glared at them, a stark contrast to the pale oval of her face. Long black longs of hair framed her delicate face, her soft lips coloured a deep plum a colour that oddly suited the traditional kimono that clad her body. It was completely white in colour except for the purple obi that bounded her delicate waist, its hem stopping just at her feet revealing the wooden sandals she wore. Her hands were small and delicate as white as her skin but the two gleaming katana swords that she held in each hand belayed the seemingly innocent guise of her body.

"How dare you attack me?" her voice was a blizzard howling through the air, it was also the soft pattering of fresh snow falling on hard boulders and equally as strange it was the crunch of ice breaking under feet, "How dare you try and take it away from?"

"Take what?" Tomoyo asked.

"Who is she?"

"The Snow Geisha," Tomoyo whispered back.

"Huh?" everyone stared at her.

"The Japanese demonic goddess of snow and ice. Mistress of the mountains and keeper of lost souls lost," Tomoyo explained keeping a weary eye on the smirking snow goddess.

"She's a goddess?" Kiyone blinked, "Oh goddess."

"Ha! Ha," Meiling rolled her eyes, "Very funny."

"Silence mortals!" the Snow Geisha thundered, "You dare come here and take what's mine. But I know the truth, once you are gone he will be mine again."

"Who?"

"You know who."

"Actually no," Meiling muttered, "Jeez, for a goddess she's kind of…"

"Psycho?"

"You dare mock me?" the Snow Geisha beared her teeth and held her twin katana swords aloft each gleaming point facing them, "You stupid mortals. You think you can trick me? It's mine! He gave it to me. It's mine to keep and have. It's mine!"

"Oh great, so an ice queen with a Gollum complex," Sakura rolled her eyes, "Some guardian!"

"Prepare to die! Attack!"

The ice-demons lunged at them as the humans easily shifted into a defence formation. Sakura flung her ski pole like a spear hitting a demon, the force of the blow knocked it out of the air pinning it to the ground. The Snow Geisha howled in fury as Nivaline torched another ice-demon.

"Magic!" the goddess grinned, "You want to see real magic!"

She raised her swords and crossed them together forming a cross as her blue eyes glowed.

"Stop her!" Nivaline cried.

Syaoran lunged forwards trying to stab the goddess but in a movement too fast to see the Snow Geisha brought her twin katana swords down using one to block the blow and the other to score a bloody cut across Syaoran's stomach. The man gasped in pain and staggered backwards clutching the long cut as the Snow Geisha smirked.

"Here's some real magic!" she pointed her swords at them.

"Oh…" Sakura whispered.

A blast of ice, snow and wind gushed forwards sweeping over the hapless humans flinging them aside like rag dolls. Tomoyo lost all sense of direction and time as she felt lumps of cold ice batter her body bruises forming everywhere. Meiling was blinded and choking on snow as she tried to claw herself free from the blizzard that had her in its freezing grip. Sakura felt like she was flying borne by the icy blizzard but where to she had no idea.

The Angels and their allies succumbed to the blizzard and all they were aware of was eternal white and a numbing cold that seeped into their bodies.

* * *

Sakura moaned as she blinked slowly trying to figure out where she was. 

"Tomoyo? Meiling?" she stood up and looked around slowly all she saw was snow.

"Sakura?" a weak voice muttered.

"Xiaolang!" Sakura fell to the ground crawling hurriedly to the injured man as he slowly sat up grimacing as the cut on his stomach gave a jolt of pain.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," Sakura replied gingerly probing his wound, "But I can't see the others."

"We're lost?"

"And stranded."

* * *

"That was some ride," Kiyone muttered looking around. 

"Let's never do that again," Meiling moaned.

"Agreed."

"Where are we?" Meiling looked around, for miles and miles on end all she saw was a land frozen in the grips of winter.

"Completely lost," Kiyone sighed.

"The others?"

"Gone."

"We're trapped."

"Oh yeah," Kiyone smiled grimly, "And screwed."

* * *

Tomoyo come to suddenly feeling an unnatural warmth sweeping through her body. 

"Calm down," Nivaline's soothing voice murmured in her ears, "I'm trying to warm you up."

"What happened?" Tomoyo asked dully.

"Don't know. We were apparently swept away by the blizzard," Nivaline sighed, "The Cliff notes? We're lost. The others seemed to have been swept off somewhere. We're no longer in Kansas and the Wicked Witch is onto us."

"Damn," Tomoyo muttered trying to sit up.

"Damn right."

* * *

The Snow Geisha smiled coldly. 

"They're scattered and helpless," she murmured, "Just where I want them to be."

"The good old divide and conquer plan," Psuedo-Sakura nodded her approval, "Yue will be pleased."

"And if I kill them?" the Snow Geisha whirled on her, her blue eyes wide and pleading, "Will he come."

"When you do," Psuedo-Sakura smiled at her calmly, "He will come. He will see you have protected his gift and is worthy of his love."

"Yue," the Snow Geisha whispered lovingly glancing up at the sky, "We shall be together!"

With that the mountain goddess disappeared in a flurry of wind and snow as Psuedo-Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Fool."

* * *

YAY! ANOTHER CHAPTER AND ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! THIS STORY IS NEARING THE END BUT THERE ARE OTHER TWISTS TO COME!!! YAY TWISTS!!!! 

Next chapter:

Stranded in the Japanese Alps and separated, the Angels and their allies not only have to face the wrath and might of the Snow Geisha but avoid Psuedo-Sakura's own meddling. Meanwhile back in America, Mr. Noir is up to something that may spell doom for whole world. Will the Angels survive the Snow Geisha? Will they retrieve the third book? Find out in… _Angels on ice_

A/notes:

SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! Sorry for the massive delays but I had exam, career week, a relative coming over to stay so I was very, very busy but luckily summer holidays (I live in Australia) is here and I can finish this story once and for all! YAY! Please, please, please review and thank you to everybody who have supported this story all the way! You guys are the best!


	31. Angels on ice

Sorry about the long delay but hopefully an uber 43 page chapter will tide you over until the next update (I have no idea when that will be). As always RR and 20 reviews means a new chapter

Disclaimer: Just read a previous chapter's one... okay?

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 30: Angels on ice**

"Stop her!" Nivaline cried.

Syaoran lunged forwards trying to stab the goddess but in a movement too fast to see the Snow Geisha brought her twin katana swords down using one to block the blow and the other to score a bloody cut across Xiaolang's stomach. The man gasped in pain and staggered backwards clutching the long cut as the Snow Geisha smirked.

"Here's some real magic!" she pointed her swords at them.

"Oh…" Sakura whispered.

A blast of ice, snow and wind gushed forwards sweeping over the hapless humans flinging them aside like rag dolls. Tomoyo lost all sense of direction and time as she felt lumps of cold ice batter her body bruises forming everywhere. Meiling was blinded and choking on snow as she tried to claw herself free from the blizzard that had her in its freezing grip. Sakura felt like she was flying borne by the icy blizzard but where to she had no idea.

The Angels and their allies succumbed to the blizzard and all they were aware of was eternal white and a numbing cold that seeped into their bodies.

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Sakura moaned as she blinked slowly trying to figure out where she was.

"Tomoyo? Meiling?" she stood up and looked around slowly all she saw was snow.

"Sakura?" a weak voice muttered.

"Xiaolang!" Sakura fell to the ground crawling hurriedly to the injured man as he slowly sat up grimacing as the cut on his stomach gave a jolt of pain.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," Sakura replied gingerly probing his wound, "But I can't see the others."

"We're lost?"

"And stranded."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

"That was some ride," Kiyone muttered looking around.

"Let's never do that again," Meiling moaned.

"Agreed."

"Where are we?" Meiling looked around, for miles and miles on end all she saw was a land frozen in the grips of winter.

"Completely lost," Kiyone sighed.

"The others?"

"Gone."

"We're trapped."

"Oh yeah," Kiyone smiled grimly, "And screwed."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Tomoyo come to suddenly feeling an unnatural warmth sweeping through her body.

"Calm down," Nivaline's soothing voice murmured in her ears, "I'm trying to warm you up."

"What happened?" Tomoyo asked dully.

"Don't know. We were apparently swept away by the blizzard," Nivaline sighed, "The Cliff notes? We're lost. The others seemed to have been swept off somewhere. We're no longer in Kansas and the Wicked Witch is onto us."

"Damn," Tomoyo muttered trying to sit up.

"Damn right."

A A A A A A A A A A A A A

The Snow Geisha smiled coldly.

"They're scattered and helpless," she murmured, "Just where I want them to be."

"The good old divide and conquer plan," Psuedo-Sakura nodded her approval, "Yue will be pleased."

"And if I kill them?" the Snow Geisha whirled on her, her blue eyes wide and pleading, "Will he come?"

"When you do," Psuedo-Sakura smiled at her calmly, "He will come. He will see you have protected his gift and is worthy of his love."

"Yue," the Snow Geisha whispered lovingly glancing up at the sky, "We shall be together!"

With that the mountain goddess disappeared in a flurry of wind and snow as Psuedo-Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Fool."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"Okay, on a scale of one to ten on the suck-o-metre this rates as 'we're screwed'," Kiyone muttered looking around at their bleak landscape, "And once more, with feeling: We're screwed."

"Not wanting to pile log on the pyre of misery but…" Meiling hesitated, "Well… umm… my magic's kinda… well you know… disabled?"

Kiyone stared at her.

"Jeez, optimism was never your main point huh?" she drawled, "Why?"

"The Snow Geisha's power is everywhere," Meiling swept her arm around encompassing their whole surrounding, "Every flake of snow, every drop of moisture in the air, it's even soaked into the earth on which we walk. It's powerful… too powerful it's like… smothering my own power as well. Even the Clow Sword can't hold its true form here."

She gestured at the ruby butterfly bracelet she swore around her wrist.

"So what do we do?" Kiyone demanded.

"Run and scream in panic?"

"Again with the lack of optimism."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Nivaline sighed in frustration.

"I can't even summon a spark," she muttered disgustedly, "The Snow Geisha's focused all her power on dampening on magic and I hate to say this it's working."

"But you warmed me up just then," Tomoyo pointed out sitting up in the snow."

"That was a small piece of magic a novice could do and plus it was done before the Snow Geisha's dampening spell kicked in," Nivaline explained.

"So what do we do?"

"Try to find the others and get the hell of this mountain and possibly come back with a full arsenal hopefully with tanks and flamethrowers?"

"Jeez, overkill much?" Tomoyo muttered.

Nivaline sighed.

"I wish. The Snow Geisha is a goddess and a goddess horrifically cheesed off with us. I for one don't want to stick around when she decides she's done toying with us and makes big with the slaughtering and bloodshed."

"So, which direction?" Tomoyo stood up and glanced at their endlessly white surroundings, as far as her eyes could see there was only snow piled on top of yet more snow with nothing to serve as a landmark to distinguish distinct one section of land to another.

"That way," Nivaline pointed in some seemingly random direction.

"Huh? Why that way?" Tomoyo asked picking herself up off the wet and freezing ground.

"My almost paralysing screaming fear seems to lessen when I look in that direction," Nivaline explained deadpanned.

"That way it is," Tomoyo agreed.

And with that they headed off trudging painfully slowly through the snow.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"WORK!" Sakura snatched the Star Key from around her neck and flung it at the snow, "Son of a…"

"Calm down," Xiaolang wheezed clutching his wound tightly trying to stop the bleeding, "There's obviously a dampening spell in place."

Sakura growled under her breath and picked up the Star Key from amidst the snow looping it around her neck again. She grimaced feeling the cold metal touch her skin. She had been trying to heal Xiaolang's wound with the key but it refused to work. There was a slight glowing at first than it stopped and not the key was unresponsive altogether no matter how much Sakura screamed at it… which was a lot.

"So now what do we do?" Sakura muttered disgustedly, "You need to get to a hospital and a doctor quick and unfortunately I don't think watching every episode of E.R. has helped me become a medical professional."

"You watch E.R.?" Xiaolang whispered with a small smile in his voice.

"Not really the issue here," Sakura reminded him with a small smile of her own, "Now what?"

"We find the others," Xiaolang tried to get up and winced as even that slight movement caused pain to roar through his body.

"No, you're staying here and I'll get the others," Sakura told him, "When I find them, we'll come back for you and get the hell of this Winter Wonderland death-trap."

"Meanwhile, whilst you're wandering around in the snow lost and vainly searching for the others. I'll probably die from a) hypothermia, b) blood loss or c) devoured by a pack of hungry wolves," Xiaolang told her dryly.

Sakura snorted.

"Don't be ridiculous," she muttered, "There are no wolves up here."

She paused.

"But the two other options are completely valid and don't forget d) a crazy PMS-ing snow goddess may come along and finish what she started," Sakura sighed, "Stay and wait for the others or move out?"

"We'll basically sitting ducks here," Xiaolang reminded her.

"Ahh… helpless, lost and limping ducks it is," Sakura stood up and gently helped Xiaolang, throwing one of his arms around her shoulders so she could support him, "Are you okay?"

"My ego is badly damaged but I'm okay."

"Okay, now the million dollar question with zero lifelines left," Sakura looked around, "Which way?"

Xiaolang glanced around weakly.

"There."

"Why?"

"Intuition."

Sakura shrugged.

"Whatever, either way we're still bumbling in the proverbial dark," Sakura muttered as she began walking at the way Xiaolang had indicated supporting the man gently, "Let's hope the others are going that way as well."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Kerberos emerged in Yue's mystic realm with its serene lake and imposing mountains and was somewhat taken aback to see Ruby Moon there, a seriously displeased look on her face.

"Kerberos," she said shortly seeing the armoured lion guardian.

"Ruby," Kerberos growled.

"I'm guessing you're here to talk to Mr. I'm-so-cold-and-oh-so-frigid," Ruby Moon said dryly.

Kerberos nodded.

"Yue," Ruby Moon cried, "Get your cryptic ass out here."

"Your lack of respect displeasures me, Ruby," Yue murmured appearing above the lake in a blaze of silver light.

"Where did you get that line?" Ruby Moon wanted to know, "Does Lucius Malfoy know you're treading on copyright laws here?"

Kerberos and Yue stared at her, confused.

"Guy off Harry Potter?" Ruby Moon sighed, "Jeez, read a book sometime."

"Insults aside," Kerberos growled choosing to ignore Ruby Moon, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"What?" Yue asked mildly.

"Little Ms. Likes-to-Freeze is gunning after the chosen three," Ruby Moon informed him impatiently, "And to add more excitement to the barrel of laughs, you're little challenge is running around telling said Ms. Likes-to-Freeze that if she kills the chosen three and their pals you will come back to her."

Yue's eyes widened.

"What happened between you two?" Kerberos growled, "the Snow Geisha…"

"Ms. Likes-to-Freeze," Ruby Moon whispered.

Kerberos pointedly ignored her.

"Is fixated on you."

"Psuedo-Sakura," Yue hissed, "I warned her not to interfere!"

"Are you so anti-social you didn't even think that this would happen?" Ruby Moon sighed and shook her head, "Men."

"What are you getting at?" Yue spat.

"You told Psuedo-Sakura not to interfere even though she knows if the chosen three succeed she'll cease to be," Ruby Moon sighed, "Hello? Is there even a brain in there! Of course she'll friggin' interfere!?!"  
"We stop her," Yue gritted his teeth as he imagined wringing his creation's neck.

"I thought _we _weren't supposed to interfere," Ruby Moon muttered, her red eyes mocking.

"Shut up," Yue growled before disappearing in a blaze of silver light.

Ruby Moon laughed disappearing as well as Kerberos shook his head, summoned his magic around him and vanished with a burst of golden light.

The guardian were going to join the battle.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

They had been stumbling through the snow for what felt like an eternity but as the rational part of her brain kept reminding her it was in fact just a few minutes. Xiaolang suddenly stumbled in snow almost falling over but Sakura just managed to keep him upright. Sensing the man's flagging strength, Sakura stopped Xiaolang leaning weakly against her.

"Well this is great," Sakura muttered looking around, "We're in the middle of nowhere."

"We were in the middle of nowhere before," Xiaolang reminded her.

"Okay, now we're further north of nowhere," Sakura glared at the snow as if the pure strength of her gaze could melt it all away, "We're in northern nowhere."

Xiaolang seemed to recover somewhat so they pressed on; knowing that time was of the essence. They struggled through the snow, cold seeping into every part of their body, frigid wind slashing against their face.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked concernedly helping Xiaolang steady himself once more after he stumbled in the snow again.

"Peachy," Xiaolang wheezed.

"Are you sure?" Sakura pressed, her worry only growing by the weak tone in his voice.  
"Sakura," Xiaolang snapped, "I'm injured and stuck in a frigid hell hole. What do you think?"

"Jeez," Sakura murmured, hurt, "Sorry for caring."

They fell silent still trying to press on through the treacherous snow.

"Sorry," Xiaolang whispered, "Pain. Woohoo, making me delirious."

"Do you want to stop?"

Xiaolang sighed, shaking his head.

"No, let's hurry up. I want to got off this mountain before the Snow Geisha cooks up some more frosty fun."

Nodding, Sakura quickened her pacing but all the ensuring Xiaolang could catch up with her. Glancing around at their bleak landscape, Sakura shivered. She instinctively knew that the Snow Geisha was watching them, ready to strike at any second.

So why hadn't she?  
Sakura had a feeling she didn't want to know the answer.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"You had them!" Psuedo-Sakura demanded, "Why didn't you just finish them off?"

The Snow Geisha glared at her, her hands stroking the handles of her katana, which were in their sheaths again, dangerously.

"You dare question me?"

Psuedo-Sakura sighed inwardly, the Snow Geisha's bizarre mood swings from poor-unloved-me to psycho-god starting to grate on her nerves. Reminding herself that she needed the goddess, she tried to calm down.

"Please get over yourself," Psuedo-Sakura snapped, "Listen up Ms. Claus. The sooner those idiots are iceblocks, the quicker you get your dear old Romeo back."

"Yue..."

Psuedo-Sakura snorted.

"Who do you think I was talking about? Leonardo Dicaprio? Cause honey you ain't Claire Danes... unless she was suffering from hypothermia and a nut job," Psuedo-Sakura reigned her temper in before she said something that would really annoy the Snow Geisha, "Why didn't you finish them off?"

The Snow Geisha glared at her, fury in cold sapphire eyes.

"They're not where I want them," she said shortly.

"Where do you want them?" Psuedo-Sakura demanded.

"Here."

Psuedo-Sakura blinked.

"Here," she repeated not sure if she had heard correctly.

Snow Geisha elegantly nodded her head, her movements liquid and impossibly graceful.

Psuedo-Sakura studied her surroundings. They were in the Snow Geisha's stronghold, a crystalline palace made of solid ice. It was a tower, an immense spike sticking out from the mountains side protected by magic ancient and strong. Sunlight glinted off the palace's harsh, cold edges, refracted and dispersed so sheer veils of rainbows were thrown into the sky. Outside, a veritable army of snarling ice-demons patrolled the snowy grounds ready to tear apart anything that dared trespass the realm of a god. Psuedo-Sakura smiled wickedly.

"Ooo... this _should _be interesting."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Kiyone suddenly decided once this little adventure of theirs was over, she was skipping town and taking the first plane to Hawaii or Tahiti or... or... or... even the bloody Sahara Desert. Anything where there wasn't any blasted snow!

"Now I know why God invented hell!" Meiling yelled frustrated, losing her footing again as she skidded across a small sliver of ice.

She managed to steady herself as Kiyone stomped across the snow past her.

"This is hell," Kiyone muttered.

"I mean a nice toasty, fiery, _warm _hell," Meiling glared at the snowy landscape that encompassed their surroundings.

"Maybe we should be quiet," Kiyone said evenly, "You know conserve our energy."

"Maybe if we keep talking, the others might hears us," Meiling suggested.

"Or Ms. Antarctica might hear us and come a-running brining death, destruction and torture in her wake," Kiyone drawled.

Meiling fell silent, digesting that little scenario, the two of them still trying to struggle through the snow.

"All least we won't be cold," Meiling paused, "See, I am optimistic!"

"You need therapy," Kiyone muttered, "Stat."

"Whatever, Dr. Phil," Meiling shot back.

They fell silent again, trying focusing all their energy into making their limbs take the next step through the freezing snow that seemed to be sapping every drop of their energy. And the next step after that and the next step after...

"What was that?" Kiyone said suddenly breaking the silence.

Meiling jumped and almost slipped again at the sudden sound of Kiyone's voices. She recomposed herself quickly and began listening carefully trying to hear what Kiyone was hearing.

"Probably nothing," Meiling said after a short pause.

Suddenly a fist flew into her line of vision from nowhere knocking Kiyone down into the snow.

"Not nothing," Psuedo-Sakura smirked impishly.

Calmly she blocked Meiling's wild swing at her face.

"It's me," Psuedo-Sakura shoved Meiling backwards.

The Angel recovered quickly and was about to leap at her again but froze as her eyes slid past Psuedo-Sakura's shoulders. A pack of snarling white foxes, their fur blending in with the snow, stood there behind her in a threatening triangular formation, their azure eyes alit with blood lust.

"See, frost bitch thinks she can take you all on," Psuedo-Sakura began.

Kiyone staggered to her feet.

"I see a but coming..."

"But she wanted me to soften you up."

Psuedo-Sakura laughed as the foxes leapt towards them as one.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Tomoyo sighed, a puff of mist forming around her mouth.

"After this, I'm never touching ice cream again."

"Mmm..." Nivaline murmured distractedly, "Good for you figure."

"What is there something wrong with how I look?" Tomoyo yelped indignantly.

Nivaline ignored her.

'Something's wrong," Nivaline murmured softly.

Tomoyo snorted.

"Hello, we're in Survivor: Ice Hell, of course something's wrong," Tomoyo reminded her.

A small smile flitted across Nivaline's lips over Tomoyo's analogy.

"No," Nivaline sighed trying to put her feeling into words, "It's like something's... I don't know... coming... I guess."

"What do you me..."

Tomoyo suddenly collapsed, sprawling forwards onto her knees.

"TOMOYO!" Nivaline stumbled over to her.

Tomoyo's head snapped upwards staring straight into Nivaline's shocked eyes. The Angel's normally lavender eyes were now blazing silver orbs. Nivaline stumbled back a few steps as Tomoyo continued to stare at her, unblinking.

"They come," she whispered, her voice low and filled the power, "The earth, the sun, the moon."

Tomoyo blinked and the silver in her eyes winked out replaced by the normal soft lavender. She blinked again in confusion looking around, puzzled.

"What?" Nivaline whispered.

"What?" Tomoyo stared at her the ex-Angel confused.

"You..." Nivaline began hoarsely.

"What?" Tomoyo gazed around wildly, still perplexed, "What happ..."

"Mirror!"

"What?!?"

"The mirror," Nivaline explained hurriedly, "It's causing you to have visions."

Still bewildered, Tomoyo began wriggling around freeing her straps from a special carrier bag she wore, strapped to her back. Unzipping the bag, she pulled out the mirror.

"This thing," Tomoyo stared at her, "Nothing's hap..."

The surface of the mirror began glowing brightly.

"They come," Tomoyo whispered dreamily, her voice sounding as though she was very far away, "The Ice Maiden awaits. A cage of winter and cold light. A trap. The butterfly, the lion they flee but the archer; he's..."

Tomoyo gasped loudly.

"Tomoyo?" Nivaline asked gently.

Tomoyo stared up at her, silver blazing in her eyes once more.

"He is snared."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Gold, red and silver light blazed inside the icy palace from the blaze three figures emerged.

"Woah," Ruby Moon glanced around at the icy walls and ceiling of the palace, "Someone needs a new decorator."

Yue as usual ignored her.

"Snow Geisha!" he thundered, "Where are you?"

A flurry of wind whistled through the palace.

"Yue," a soft women's voice propelled by the wind echoed from all around them, "You've came... back to me!"

Kerberos and Ruby moon stared at each other, worriedly.

"Snow Geisha!" Yue demanded, 'Stop this!"

The gentle wind suddenly exploded into a howling gale.

"Why?!?" the Snow Geisha's voice was now filled with fury and outrage, "Is this some test? Are you here to test my resolve?"

"What the hell is she going on about?" Ruby Moon demanded.

"It doesn't matter," Yue muttered coldly.

"It does!" the Snow Geisha's voice raged, "You said you loved me!"

Kerberos and the Snow Geisha struggled to smother their laughter.

"Yue? Love? He's as incapable of love as you are of creating fire," Kerberos growled, "It is not in his nature."

Ruby Moon was infinitely harsher.

"Love?!? Whoa, lay off the chick flicks lady. He ain't Tom Hanks and you ain't Meg Ryan. And this sure as hell isn't Sleepless in Seattle," Ruby Moon paused, "You know aside from the snow thing."

This seemed to anger the Snow Geisha even more.

"He loves me!" the wind roared with her voice, "How dare you mock what we have?"

The speed of the wind picked up swirling around them ferociously. Snowflakes and snow beginning to form tossed erratically around by the wind. The wind continued to churn, getting faster and faster with each spin. It seemed to be concentrating right in front of them, more and more flakes of snow and ice being pulled into its vortex. It soon became a funnel of whirling white whilst the room in all the other parts of the room died down leaving behind the one swirling column of wind and snow in front of them. And suddenly with no warning at all, the funnel of wind disappeared altogether, the snow falling onto the ground revealing the Snow Geisha in all her cold glory.

"Yue," she seemed to glide across the ice floor of the palace towards the Moon guardian, "My beloved."

"Stop this, snowflake," Yue growled.

Kerberos and Ruby Moon burst into laughter.

"Snowflake?" they repeated incredulously.

Yue and the Snow Geisha ignored them.

"Why?" the Snow Geisha demanded, "This is the only way to gain your love back.

Yue glared at her.

"That's a lie," he snarled sharply.

"No!" the Snow Geisha roared, "You promised!"

"That wasn't me," Yue snapped.

"Liar!" the Snow Geisha glared at him.

Gusts of cold wing seemed to spring up around her, flitting playfully through her tight fitting kimono.

"Liar! Liar!"

"Okay, is it just me or she's got 'Fatal Attraction' syndrome?" Ruby Moon muttered.

"How dare you mock me?" the Snow Geisha roared turning on her.

Yue broke in before the Snow Geisha could utter another word.

"Stop this at once. Stop listening to lies! Let the chosen do their task as I told you to. Do not listen to my creation."

"If I succeed will you love me?" the Snow Geisha said quietly, a vulnerable look appearing across her face.

"Never."

"Bastard," she said calmly.

Yue, Kerberos and Ruby Moon jumped as the Snow Geisha suddenly turned on them. In a fluid movement, she drew her katana swords from their sheaths and slash Yue in the shoulders. Ruby Moon and Kerberos leapt forwards but was blasted back by a gust of snow and wind.

"You said you loved me!" the snow Geisha raged, "All those centuries ago. Why? What made you change your mind?"

"Things change," Yue snarled through gritted teeth.

"No, we never change! We are immortal! We can't change who we are. That is our curse!" the Snow Geisha spat.

"Then I never loved you," Yue said calmly.

"Liar," the Snow Geisha's word was low but the fury in them evident, "The gift you gave me..."

"You were supposed to protect it!" Yue yelled, "You're a guard I chose! Nothing more, nothing less."

"So I am merely a pawn to you. Something your manipulate for your own perverse fun."

"Fun has nothing to do with it."

The Snow Geisha glared at him.

"Then let me have my own..." a spine-chilling smile flitted across her face, "Fun."

She gestured wildly with her hands and a cage of ice and magic fell from the ceiling of the palace sealing Yue within. The cage was made from shards and blocks of ice thrown hazardously together, there were no regular openings in the cage only a few spaces here and there to left in air and thin shafts of light. Spikes of ice poked out precariously from all sides of the cage forcing Yue into an uncomfortable position to avoid them all. The Snow Geisha gestured again and the cage was levitated into the air hanging about three metres from the icy floor.

"As for you friends..." the Snow Geisha whirled around but they were gone.

The Snow Geisha gritted her teeth.

"NO!" she snarled.

Whirling around, she pointed her twin swords out in front of her aiming towards a rough rectangular space in the ice walls that was suppose to be a window. She concentrated and blasted out a jet of azure magic out into the freezing air.

"Kill them!" she roared.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Glancing out the airplane window watching clouds and sky race past the plane, Eriol felt sick, hollow like he was a dead soul that somebody forgot to bury.

"Tomoyo," the name whispered through his lips, unwanted yet inevitable.

Oh god, he had killed countless people before sometimes staring coldly into their shocked faces as he pulled the trigger but those lavender eyes, hurt by his betrayal... it was enough to make him want to put a gun to his own head anything to stop the burning feeling in his heart.

The guilt; it was like an ocean swallowing him with its ferocious power and he was left scrabbling, clinging onto anything to save himself from it. But it dashed him against a cliff, shattering him, his mind... his heart... his soul. Over and over again the scene played in his mind. The gun, Tomoyo, her limp body...

It was done.

She was gone.

And he was drowning in a tempest of guilt and despair that all the alcohol in the world could not anaesthetise. His body felt limp and wooden, like a broke puppet who strings have been cut and callously discarded. Useless, powerless, helpless...

Damn that bitch, Lilia, for doing this to him. Forcing him to work for that bastard Noir, he hated him, that bitch and himself with every ounce of strength in his hollow body. If it hadn't been for Lilia, he would've been in Europe right now drowning his sorrow over Tomoyo in some dingy pub. Now, she was dead. Murdered by him.

And it was all her fault.

Eriol smiled grimly remembering the look on her face when he had executed her. His smile fell, now she and Tomoyo were both gone.

Tit for tat.

Karma?

The world trying to fix some twisted balance between good and evil?

He was jolted from his thoughts as an air stewardess appeared before him. A sickly smile plastered across her face. Eriol looked up at her and noticed with a curious detachment her eyes were glazed and blank.

"Good job," her voice was guttural and low.

Eriol stared up at her eyes, unable to comprehend what was going on.

"You haven't failed me," the possessed air stewardess continued.

Suddenly she stopped and blinked at Eriol, awareness rushing back into her eyes. She blinked again, confused.

"Would you like a drink, sir?"

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Darkness and shadows swirled around him, thick and syrupy clinging to his body like a dark lover. Power thrummed through the air causing the molecules themselves to vibrate with the strength of it. A crystal on the desk glowed brightly allowing the spell caster to see who he was talking to.

"Good job. You haven't failed me."

Mr Noir, C.E.O of Spinnel Corporation and wielder of dark magic, ended the spell and leaned back in his chair staring straight ahead at something only he could see.

"The chosen three have been shattered," he whispered musing to himself, "That makes my job so much easier."

He stood up and suddenly and walked around his desk, over to an ebony cupboard set into one of the walls of his expansive office. With a whispered word, the door unlocked itself and swung open. Inside spread across the three levels of shelfing were artefacts so rare and ancient, it had been lost in the mists of time. Distorted skulls, blood red crystals that throbbed with power, a mummified hand and rows and rows of wicked knives were just a few of the things lying on the dark velvet that lined the shelves.

He reached into the cupboard and drew out a rolled up piece of parchment carefully. Gently he unrolled the map studying the faint ink markings etched into the paper and noticing the three glowing red dots of light that pricked the map. Two where close by, its location only known to Noir but a third...

It was obscured by magic even beyond Noir's own. The third dot of light had been distorted forming a giant blob that spread across a third of the map.

With the chosen now gone, Noir could get what he wanted.

"The final piece of the tri-sword."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"Xiaolang!" Sakura shook him roughly.

He was pale and feverish now, shaking uncontrollably, strings of incoherent words escaping from his blue lips. They had stopped for a rest after Xiaolang began complaining of tiredness but now he refused to even move.

"So tired," he whispered weakly.

"Come on, we've got to keep moving," Sakura urged gently.

Xiaolang continued shaking and shivering, his head tossing violently from side to side.

"So tired... cold... sleepy..."

Sakura froze, horrified.

"Hypothermia," Sakura whispered, "damn."

She ripped off her coat ignoring the bite of cold against her skin and wrapped it tightly around Xiaolang trying desperately to keep him warm.

"Come on, stay with me Xiaolang. Damn it, don't die on me!" a ghost of smile spread thinly across her lip, "I still have to rip you one for abandoning Chelsea and Zachary."

"Sorry," Xiaolang whispered, his eyes still closed and his body still wracked with pain, "So very sorry."

"No, it took me a while," Sakura whispered gently, "But I forgive you, it wasn't your fault but I was blinded by rage and guilt. It's nobody's fault, well... those who are responsible got what they deserved."

"Death," Xiaolang stammered feverishly.

"Yeah, I kinda went Kill Bill volume 1 on them so bit with the slashing and blooding and goring," Sakura smiled softly down at him, "Come on, Xiaolang hang on."

"Sakura," Xiaolang murmured agitatedly.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he whispered deliriously.

Sakura stared down at him, stunned.

"Wow," she whispered gently, "That wound must be making you go crazy..."

"No..."

"Shhh... don't talk preserve your strength."

"No, I've loved you ever since I first saw you... all those years ago," Xiaolang continued muttering almost incoherently.

"Years? You met me only a while ago..." Sakura shook herself, "Stop talking. You need to calm down... rest..."

"No!" Xiaolang struggled against her violently, "Must tell."

He gasped loudly rocking uncontrollably in Sakura's eyes as she tried to restrain him.

"It comes... dark wings.... claws... fire... the master... it does as its master bids..."

"Xiaolang!"

He collapsed in her arms as Sakura tried to revive him.

"Xiaolang!"

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Noir set in the centre of the room, crystal of varying shapes and colours setting in a circle around him alternating with blood-red candles that burnt with a crimson flame.

"Beast of dark wings and ravaging claws," Noir chanted, his voice rough and empowered with arcane enchantments, "Of fire and ancient rage, I summon thee. Beast of hellish realms and forgotten past. Hear my sirens call and come to me.'

The red flames of the candles flared shooting up metres into the air, the crystal began to shake violently rattling against the floorboard.

"By the name of the dragon goddess Tiamat, goddess of pain and chaos I beckon thee! With my words the ancient chains shatter and set thee free!"

The crystal shattered spraying Noir with chips of shrapnel as the candles exploded melting into a river of molten wax. A swirling vortex of dark energy formed in the air in front of Noir, the man feeding the gateway with his energy. With a final burst of energy, the vortex burst open and something shot out.

"You know what I see," Noir whispered, his voice rich with power.

The thing growled.

"Now go, find it."

The creature roared and disappeared in a plume of black smoke.

"Soon, it'll be mine and the skies themselves will tremble!"

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Tomoyo blinked, her eyes returning to normal again. She gaped at Nivaline as she struggled to her feet.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"Excellent question," Nivaline said calmly.

"What?" Tomoyo asked startled.

Nivaline looked at her gravely.

"I think the mirror sparked another vision."

"Oh, my god I'm turning into Phoebe from Charmed!" Tomoyo gasped.

Seeing the look on Nivaline's face, Tomoyo coughed.

"Really?" she asked interested, "What did I say?"

The Elder shrugged.

"A whole bunch of mumbo-jumbo," Nivaline paused, "I think something went down with the Snow Geisha."

To say Tomoyo was bewildered would've been an understatement.

"Huh?"

"You say something about a lion, a butterfly and an archer..."

Tomoyo allowed a wicked smile to settle on her face

"So I made a copyright infringement on the beloved tale of C.S. Lewis's the Witch, the Lion and the Wardrobe..." Tomoyo muttered, "Some vision."

Nivaline rolled her eyes.

"Try Kerberos, Ruby Moon and Yue."

"Oh," Tomoyo blinked the information not sinking in yet, "OH! They're here? They're going to help us?"

"You also said the Ice Maiden awaits and the archer..." Nivaline trailed off pursing her lips thoughtfully.

"A.k.a. Yue," Tomoyo supplied helpfully.

Nivaline nodded.

"Is snared and also a cypto-gram about a cage of ice and snow light... sounds kinky," Nivaline added almost as an afterthought.

Tomoyo smirked at the older woman.

"You sound like Kiyone."

Nivaline shivered and moaned slightly.

"I've been hanging around her for wayyyy too long," she muttered.

"So are you saying Yue is trapped by I'm-a-crazy-psycho-goddess?"

"Yeah, basically, yeah," Nivaline confirmed.

"Wow, could this get any worse?" Tomoyo muttered.

As if on cue, the sky suddenly lit up with an immense azure light. The two girls looked up and gasped seeing the huge ball of light that was streaking across the sky straight towards them.

Tomoyo sighed.

"I just jinxed us, didn't I?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," Nivaline replied calmly, "Shame on you."

And the ball of light just came closer and closer.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Meiling and Kiyone worked together in perfect synchronisation kicking the foxes out of the air with a combination of flying and crescent kicks. Meiling spin-kicked a fox catching it in the chest as Kiyone accounted for another with a well-timed jump kick. The foxes fell to the ground, whimpering but quickly jumped up and stalked towards them, lips curled back to reveal viciously sharp teeth.

"Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?" Psuedo-Sakura taunted.

Meiling and Kiyone moved into defensive stances as the foxes stalked closer to them, their eyes tracing their every movement.

"They're foxes you moron, not wolves," Kiyone snapped.

"Tsk, tsk," Psuedo-Sakura tutted, "Such temper for one who's going to be fox bait."

"Please, like your overrated fur coats can beat us?" Meiling drawled.

"We'll just see about that won't we?"

Meiling grinned wickedly at her.

"Lets."

The foxes charged at them again. Meiling ducked a fox flying overhead, she lashed out with her feet catching another fox in the jaw forcing it backwards. Rolling around she lashed out twice more striking a fox each time, flipping up back to her feet she raised her arms enough to block Psuedo-Sakura's punch.

"Hey, now this isn't fair," Meiling complained as the foxes leapt at her.

Psuedo-Sakura smirked.

"Since when did I play fair?"

Meiling blocked Psuedo-Sakura's kick and flipped the doppelganger over. Yue's creation landed back onto her on two feet and hit Meiling in the stomach. Kiyone leapt into the fray beating the foxes back allowing Meiling to recover.

"That hurt," Meiling said blithely.

She flew at Psuedo-Sakura with a flying kick striking the doppelganger in the chest. They fell sprawling across each other.

"Get off Angel bitch!" Psuedo-Sakura snarled tossing Meiling off her.

Meiling rolled and back flipped onto her feet rising to meet Psuedo-Sakura's flurry of punches. She blocked most of them but one slid past her defences striking her in the cheek.

"Ouch," Meiling snapped.

She blocked another punch, twisting her arm around Psuedo-Sakura's own arm, grabbing her wrist and forcing that arm down.

"Now you're getting annoying," Meiling growled.

She punched Psuedo-Sakura in the face three times forcing the doppelganger back with each blow before grabbing the mystical creature's hair and yanking her down kneeing her again in the face. She flung her backwards and sent her flying with a small hop kick.

Psuedo-Sakura hit the snow violently.

"Bitch," she gasped staggering up to her feet massaging the wrist Meiling had grabbed.

"Skank," Meiling shot back.

"Oooo... quite the six-year-old aren't we?" Psuedo-Sakura taunted.

"Can you shut up and fight?" Meiling demanded.

"Gladly."

She charged at Meiling grabbing the Angel around the neck before she could react. With an evil smirk, she threw Meiling through the air. The Angel crashed into the snow but quickly recovered gritting her teeth as she forced herself back onto her feet.

Psuedo-Sakura gave a loud warcry and charged again. Meiling fired off a kick but the doppelganger grabbed her leg and tossed her backwards. Meiling turned the fall into a flip striking Psuedo-Sakura twice in the chin with a double kick before landing. She leapt into a cartwheel striking Psuedo-Sakura twice again with another kick before landing nimbly and lashing out with her right foot.

Her boot caught Psuedo-Sakura in the knee with a sickening crunch, the doppelganger let out a roar of pain as she fell to the ground.

"Damn you," she hissed.

Her wound magically repaired themselves even as she began to stand up again.

"Why..." accentuating her words with a punch to Meiling's chest.

"Did..."

A hopping spin kick caught Meiling flinging her backwards.

"You..."

Another punch.

"Have..."

A kick to the stomach.

"To..."

Psuedo-Sakura grabbed Meiling by the arm and yanked her towards her until they were face to face.

"Piss me off," she finished.

She head-butted Meiling in the face and flung Meiling backwards into the snow. The Angel lay there, stunned and dazed.

"Bitch," Psuedo-Sakura gave Kiyone a powerful kick in the back catching the older woman unaware.

The kick hit Kiyone in the kidney drawing a yelp of pain from the ex-Angel. Another kick sent her sprawling forwards.

With growls of victory, the foxes leapt forwards.

"What did you say again about my 'overrated fur coats' again?" Psuedo-Sakura smirked.

A white fox leapt on top of Meiling baring its long incisors. With a growl, it reared its head and prepared to rip Meiling's throat out.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Snow Geisha smiled up at Yue, who was imprisoned in her enchanted cage of ice and suspended up in the air.

"Now we shall see how your precious chosen three are handling my power," she jeered.

"Why are you doing this?" Yue demanded, his voice muffled by his icy entrapment.

"They're more important to you than me."

"I don't love you," Yue growled for perhaps the millionth time in the past few minutes."

For a few seconds the Snow Geisha looked hurt but her face hardened replaced by a cold fury that even made Yue shiver.

"Then I'll make you suffer," she said calmly.

"Why are you persisting with this useless scheme of yours?" Yue demanded sounding like a teacher berating an errant student.

The Snow Geisha ignored as she continued to pace around the room, her hands lingering every so often around the handle of her sheathed blades.

"I'll force to you to love," she whispered, a small hopeful smile on her cold face.

"I'll never," Yue vowed hissing at her.

The Snow Geisha whirled on him, her kimono swirling around her like a cape.

"SILENCE!" she thundered.

A blast of freezing air slapping Yue in the face as the Snow Geisha glared up at him. A sinister smile flickered across her face.

"We'll just see about that."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Sakura frantically shook Xiaolang trying to revive him.

"Xiaolang! Xiaolang! Xiaolang!"

Xiaolang's eyes fluttered open, his normally amber pupils dull with pain.

"What happened?" he whispered weakly.

Sakura blinked at him.

"Don't you remember?" she asked gently.

Xiaolang slowly turned his head and stared up at her worried emerald eyes.

"Remember what?"

Sakura shook her head.

"It doesn't matter," she told him, "We need to get you help. Here. Soon."

She slowly helped him up taking most of his weight, Xiaolang collapsed against her not having the strength to move on his own accord.

"Come on, just hang on. We'll get you out of here. Just hang on."

Xiaolang mumbled something under his breath, his voice weak and incoherent.

"Shhh... just calm down," sakura soothed.

Xiaolang continued to mutter, Sakura worriedly smoothed his limp hair away from his forehead but jumped as her fingers touched his skin.

"Oh god, you're burning up," she whispered horrified.

She dumped him back into the snow. Xiaolang gave a sharp yelp of pain before let out a low moan.

"Sorry!" Sakura said frantically.

Hurriedly she opens his coat, peeling his torn shirt away from his wound. Sakura gaped at it, it was deep probably needing stitches but that wasn't what worried her the most. The skin around the cut was blue and puffy, abnormally swollen up. A thin layer of yellow liquid coated the wound.

"Infected," Sakura whispered.

A thin river of blood suddenly oozed from the wound staining Sakura's hand.

"And bleeding heavily," Sakura muttered.

She quickly unwound her scarf from around her neck and folded it up, wadding it as tightly as she could. Gently she unwrapped Xiaolang's scarf and looking down at the wound.

"Sorry," she whispered to him, even though he probably couldn't understand her.

She took a handful of snow and crushed it, using her body heat to get some water. Moving quickly and efficiently, she touched the semi-melted ice to Xiaolang's wound. The man gave a low hiss of pain and struggled weakly but Sakura held him down. The blood melted the rest of the snow as Sakura gently bathed the wound trying to get rid of all the infected pus coating the cut. Once it was as clean as she could get it, she took her own folded scarf and pressed it tightly against the bleeding gash, using Xiaolang's scarf she bounded her wadded scarf to the wound tightly slowing the blood flow.

"That should slow the bleeding," Sakura murmured to herself.

Xiaolang began coughing violently, Sakura tried to calm him down but began to panic herself as he coughed out a thin trail of blood that stained his lips.

"Not good, not good," Sakura wrapped her arms around him, trying to comfort him, "Xiaolang! Focus, hang in there!"

She looked around wildly at her surroundings, hoping desperately that by some miraculous chance the others had found them. No such luck.

"Just hang in there okay?" Sakura whispered.

She was torn. Should she stay and look after him or leave and try to find help as quick as she could.

"Well, this is a dilemma," Sakura admitted.

It was an understatement of epic proportions.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Tomoyo looked fearfully up at the giant ball of incoming light.

"It's not going to create ice-demons again is it?" she asked worriedly.

Nivaline shook her head.

"Not the same type of magic."

Tomoyo stared at Nivaline strangely.

"You can tell the difference?" she asked genuinely interested.

Nivaline sighed.

"Tomoyo, not really the right time to Scully my powers."

Tomoyo pouted slightly at the older woman's rebuff and quickly switched her attention back to the light.

"Would it be too much to hope that this is just some kind of overgrown Christmas light?" she wondered.

"Way too much," Nivaline muttered.

"So," Tomoyo asked, "What does it..."

Her words were cutting off abruptly as the light faded away revealing a grotesque monster of epic size. Two long twisted horns adorned a bull-like head that came completely with immense jaws that opened to reveal blunt teeth. It snorted loudly flexing its giant bat-like wings as it soared towards them, raking the air with its cloven hands. A long tail swished violently around, poking out from horse-like hindquarters grown to monstrous proportions. Its hoofed foot lashed out violently, preparing to land just a few meagre metres in front of them.

It whole body was crystalline and composed of ice, light glittering along its tetrahedral form giving it a heavenly aura that belayed its hellish appearance and nature.

"... do," Tomoyo finished weakly.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

It was born of dark magic, given unnatural life by arcane forces beyond comprehension. It was born from hatred, fear, rage and shadows and it had thing single thought revolving over and over again in its mind in an endless cycle: do its master's will.

It flew on following an invisible trail only it could see. In its mind there was only one fixed idea. Follow the trail, reach the keeping place and take back to its master what it had been told to take.

The final piece of the tri-sword.

It had a name once but that had been lost in the mist of centuries past. It had once been a king amongst beasts, fired by the very earth itself. Nothing had dared to cross its savaging claws and razor flags but now it was a mere myth, a tale to fascinate children.

It was supposed to be dead, gone.

But no longer, it had been reborn, made whole in all its terrifying glory.

Another pump of its leathery wings brought it closer to its goal. It had passed over wide expanses of writhing oceans, landscapes tainted with human structures and finally mountains armoured in ice and snow. The jutted out from the land, glorious teeth of the ear stretching up to bite the fleecy white stomach of the sky. It lay exposed, the twisted backbone of the earth. It was getting closer, it could tell with all the senses it possessed.

Huge eyes that were neither red nor gold but a curious shade of both were wide open, staring fixatedly at something it alone could see. Its nostrils flared taking in huge gulps of sharp mountain air. Thousands of scents, a riot of perfume flooded its body. It discarded those it did not need but one, the one it was searching for. Its forked tongue flicked out from its fang-lined jaws, tasting the air strengthening its awareness of the scent.

It was here.

So close...

Not once did it cross its mind that it could defy its master's order and give in to the ravenous urges that clawed at the edge of its awareness.

The urge to kill.

To slay.

To feed.

Its will was bound, trapped, it was a slave in scaly skin.

It tasted the air again.

Closer now...

The whole mountain pulsed with power.

Its tongue flicked out.

And suddenly its gold-red eyes widened for a split second. A new scent flooded its senses. It was a scent full of danger and hatred.

It was ice and snow and wind.

It was wrath and fury and hatred.

It was power, undulated, ancient and unmoving.

It was the cold breath of death.

A cold winters wind sweeping over a battlefield of the slain.

It was overwhelming but the dragon did not freeze even for a second. It recovered, the spells holding its will forcing it onwards, ever onward.

Into the realm of a goddess.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Meiling's back tingled with the contact from the freezing snow but that sensation was easily overpowered by the feeling of hot breath lapping against her throat. Blunt claws dug into her chest, a strength that belayed the white furred fox's scrawny frame bore down on her pinning her down to the ground. It growled and scraped its molars across her neck not enough to pierce skin but just enough to leave a red raw line across the vulnerable flesh.

"MEILING" Kiyone made to get up.

"Shut and watch your little friend die," Psuedo-Sakura snapped with a vicious backhand.

Kiyone was knocked back down but she instantly tried to get up again.

"Get bent," she snarled, "Tweedledum-ass."

In a blinding move, she kicked out catching Psuedo-Sakura with a leg sweep dumping the Sakura's magical twin onto the snow. Instantly pressing the advantage, Kiyone made a desperate lunge across and tackled the fox away from Meiling just as it was about to chomp down on her.

"Oh cr..." Kiyone cried realising what she had just done.

The fox instantly turned on her going straight for her throat, Kiyone desperately trying to fend it off. They rolled around violently in the snow, locked in combat, a melee of white fur and dark hair. Meiling looked on helpless trying to discern fox from woman but it was impossible to tell, the desperate struggle too fast to distinguish any real details just blurry flashes of fists and fangs.

Psuedo-Sakura sniggered watching the struggle.

"All we need is some mud and an area and I could make some cash of this," she taunted wickedly gracefully getting up back to her feet.

Meiling glared at her as she too jumped up.

"You know what?" she shot shifting into a battle stance, "You really do need to have your pathetic, manipulative, bitchy ass kicked, repeatedly."

Psuedo-Sakura laughed right in her face.

"Uh oh," she put a hand to her chest, adopting a baby voice, "Mommy's all angry and I've been a wicked girl."

She dropped the voice and smirked at the furious Meiling.

"What are you going to do..." Psuedo-Sakura's grin got wider, "Spank me?"

"No, kick the living crap out of you."

Meiling leapt straight at Psuedo-Sakura as the rest of the foxes pounced forwards at her. Meiling easily leapt over one of the foxes and lashed out with her feet using its body as a springboard to gain the extra height she needed.

Psuedo-Sakura's smirk disappeared from her face as Meiling's right foot collided with her face. She flew backwards landing roughly in the snow.

She glared at Meiling, venomous fury blazing in her eyes.

"Get her," she snarled.

The foxes immediately charged straight at Meiling, their maws wide open and ready to tear her to pieces. Meiling steeled her nerves and prepared to meet them head on.

"Wow, look at all those Wile E. Coyotes."

Psuedo-Sakura's head snapped to the side, her dark emerald eyes widening at what she saw.

Before the foxes could reach Meiling, a blast of red glowing crystal crashed into the fox pack knocking them haplessly aside.

"Don't you watch Looney Tones?" Ruby Moon demanded, "He always loses."

Casually she waved her hands at Kiyone and her fox's frantic struggle. A jet of crystal blasted the fox off the ex-Angel. Kiyone let out an audible sigh of relief and slowly crawled to her feet, a raw scratch adorning one cheeks.

"What's with the Madame Butterfly?" she muttered, staring at Ruby Moon.

"Hey, if I were you I would be more grateful towards the chick that just saved your life."

"Chick?!?" Meiling exclaimed incredulously.

Ruby Moon shrugged.

"I'm chic," she smirked.

"And trashy," Kiyone added.

Ruby Moon thankfully ignored her as Meiling tried to wrap her mind around this strange new Ruby Moon.

"How?" she murmured faintly, "How come last time were all..."

Ruby Moon winked at her.

"Mistress cryptic slash Xena? Playing a part, honey."

"Okay..." Meiling trailed off.

She was still trying to digest what she had just seen. She could deal with a mystic, deadly, blade-wielding Ruby Moon but one who acted like someone's hip aunt took some getting used to.

"Oh, come on," Ruby Moon scoffed, "It's not very impressive for the guardian of the earth talisman to be your normal pop culture gal."

"With wings," Kiyone muttered.

"Details, details," Ruby Moon waved her hand at that comments.

"Hello Ruby, fancy seeing you here," Psuedo-Sakura spat breaking into their conversation.

"Nice to see you too, super skank," Ruby Moon shot back.

"Rowr!" Psuedo-Sakura made clawing motions with her hands, "Saucer of milk for Ruby."

"And now I'm thinking why Yue didn't just un-create your sorry, skanky, lopsided, Bette-Midler size ass," Ruby Moon sent Psuedo-Sakura a venomous smile.

"Because he needs me," Psuedo-Sakura snapped.

Ruby Moon smirked at the annoyed doppelganger.

"Well sorry," she pasted a serious expression on her face, "You're fired."

She blasted a stream of crystals at Psuedo-Sakura; the doppelganger tried to leap to the side to dodge the attack but was clipped in the shoulder. The force of the impact spun her around sending her flying backwards into the snow. Psuedo-Sakura crashed into a snow drift and lay there a few seconds gasping for breath but she gritted her teeth and slowly got up again.

"Ouch," she stated calmly, "That stung."

She leapt towards Ruby Moon but before the winged guardian could act, she disappeared with a flash in mid-air.

Ruby Moon rolled her eyes.

"Please, like your Houdini Tricks are going to work," Ruby Moon closed her eyes and focused.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open.

"DUCK!" she roared.

Before Meiling and Kiyone could even blink, Ruby Moon whirled around shooting off another barrage of crystals even as she was moving. Kiyone hurriedly hit the ground as Ruby Moon shot wildly in her direction, the crystals shooting past overhead narrowly missing her head.

Psuedo-Sakura was struck even before she had fully reappeared again.

She fell backwards, crystals tearing into her skin. Ruby Moon cut off the attack allowing the doppelganger to get up again.

"This isn't over," Psuedo-Sakura snapped.

She disappeared in a flash of light teleporting away before Ruby Moon could hit her again with a rain of crystal. Ruby Moon sighed in frustration and turned to the slightly shell-shocked Meiling and Kiyone.

"Come on," she told them impatiently.

She began trekking through the snow, her feet skimming lightly over the ice crystals instead of sinking in them like the two humans who followed behind her. Whilst Meiling and Kiyone struggled, Ruby Moon was as comfortable as if she was just taking a normal stroll through a park on a sunny day.

"Where are we going?" Kiyone called out to her.

"We need to regroup," Ruby Moon replied, talking over her shoulders, "We need to find the others and regroup.

"Then what?" Meiling demanded floundering around in the snow.

Ruby Moon gave them a wicked smile.

"We got Magnum Force on the snow Geisha."

Meiling and Kiyone stared at each other in confusion before staring at Ruby Moon.

"Huh?"

"We attack at dawn..." Ruby Moon paused, "Figuratively speaking."

"Oh."

Their eyes widened.

"OH!"

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Sakura bit her lip finally making her agonising decision, she shot a final worried look at the shivering and whimpering Xiaolang.

"Be strong, hang on," Sakura slowly got up, "I'll be back."

Her eyes lingered over Xiaolang's feverish face as she forced herself to turn around. She took a reluctant step forwards forcing herself not to look back.

"There's not need for that," a familiar voice called to her.

Sakura whirled around almost tripping over her own feet.

"Kerberos!?!"

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

The crystalline winged monster flew at them, icy claws outstretched ready to crush the pathetic mortals who stood in front of it, cloven feet ready to stomp them into oblivion.

"What is that?!?" Tomoyo cried.

"A monster," Nivaline replied trying to keep calm.

"Jeez, helpful," Tomoyo muttered sarcastically.

The beast let out a thunderous roar and landed several metres in front, quite gracefully for a behemoth of that size. It gave another roar that shook the surrounding mountains before flexing its wings and taking a dangerous step towards them, icy hooves tearing into the rocky hard ground.

"Say," Tomoyo began trying to adopt a cheery, hopeful tone, "You don't happen to have a bazooka with you... do you?"

Nivaline shook her head, her face suddenly pale.

"Fresh out."

The beast hunched over for a few seconds, a deadly calm settling over the surrounding area. Nivaline and Tomoyo stared at it, their faces pale and sweating heavily. It suddenly sprung forwards and took off after them, each pounding step shaking the ear.

"RUN!" Nivaline yelled.

"WHERE?"

"TOWARDS IT!"

They took off towards the uber ice-beast dodging its wild swipes and stomping hooves. They made it just past the beast hurriedly dodging its icy tail that lashed around like a violent whip. The beast roared and tried to turn itself around, its bulk making it unwieldy and awkward in such situations. Nivaline and Tomoyo ran as best as they could, Nivaline several metres ahead of the Japanese Angel.

Just under Tomoyo's foot, the patch of snow she was standing on gave way pitching the Angel forwards.

"TOMOYO!" Nivaline yelled desperately.

The beasts gave a huge bellow and charged at her. It raised its feet ready to grind Tomoyo in the frigid ground, Tomoyo flailed around desperately for a weapon not matter how puny or pathetic but the only thing she had was the mirror, which she was still holding in her hands. Desperately she held it out in front of her as though the thin pane of glass was a shield that would actually protect her.

"TOMOYO!" Nivaline picked out a rock and heaved it at the ice-beast trying to get its attention, "TOMOYO!"  
Sunlight struck the mirror's surface and to Tomoyo's astonishment she could feel the metal and glass beginning to vibrate and warm up.

What the? she had enough time to think before it happened.

The sunlight reflected off the glass, concentrating into a beam of pale yellow energy that rocketed up hitting the ice-beast's raised hoof. The beast roared with pain as the blast unbalanced its body. It fell backwards, the earth shaking with the impact of its fall as Tomoyo gaped at the still warm mirror.

"It ain't a bazooka," she whispered.

The beast seemed to recover as it tried to claw back onto its feet. Tomoyo coolly shot another energy beam, this time at its head. It cracked into the icy facade, dazzling the beast and stunning it for a few precious seconds.

"But it'll do," Tomoyo instantly jumped up.

She ran to the stupefied Nivaline.

"RUNNNN!!!!" Tomoyo roared.

They took off across the snow fleeing literally for their lives. The ice-beast got up and instantly gave chase.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"Kerberos!" Sakura cried happily seeing the armoured and winged lion guardian.

"Flower," Kerberos inclined his head gracefully.

Xiaolang's eyes snapped open and he began shaking violently, his arms flailing wildly scrambling around in the snow.

"Sakura, " he whispered hoarsely.

"Xiaolang!"

Sakura was instantly at his side trying to soothe him down. She stroked his hair gently murmuring soft words of encouragement rocking him as she tried to desperately cling on to his thrashing body. Once he had calmed down again Sakura looked desperately at Kerberos.

"Kerberos, can you please get Xiaolang off this mountain?" she asked desperately.

Kerberos stared gravely at her.

"I can't do that," he growled gently.

Sakura stared at him.

"Why not?" she demanded.

"I have to protect you."

Sakura glared at him coldly.

"I can handle myself," she informed him frostily.

Kerberos sighed, flexing his feathered wings slowly.

"Psuedo-Sakura is back."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know," she snapped.

Kerberos glared at her, his amber eyes betraying his frustration.

"Yue's been captured."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

"What?!?" she gaped at Kerberos trying to comprehend the bombshell he had just dropped.

"The Snow Geisha, captured him," Kerberos growled low in his throat, thinking about what he would do once he got his paws on the ice goddess.

"Oh god," Sakura whispered faintly, "How?"

A faint smile graced Kerberos's white muzzle.

"Your comment kinda provides the answer."

Sakura allowed a small smile on her face as well before a low moan of pain drew her attention back to Xiaolang. She pursed her lips, her hands still stroking his sweat-soaked hair.

"You still need to get him out of here," she told Kerberos.

Kerberos growled in frustration.

"Weren't you listening?" he demanded, "I need to protect you."

"He'll die if he doesn't get help!" Sakura shot back.

"If I don't protect you, you'll die!" Kerberos roared.

Sakura stared at him calmly.

"I don't care," she whispered.

Kerberos gaped at her.

"Don't you get it?" he snarled, "You're important, no you're vital. You've been chosen by destiny. You have a responsibility to the world. If you die, the world dies with you."

"I don't care," Sakura repeated louder this time.

"The world needs you!" Kerberos argued.

"He needs me to save him."

Kerberos glared at her.

"I don't believe this!" he snapped, "You'll sacrifice the world to save some... brat?!?"  
"He's not a brat," Sakura snarled.

Kerberos froze, his amber eyes staring the girl intently.

"You're in love with him."

Sakura's eyes widened for a fraction of a second but it was enough to tell Kerberos the answer.

"No... I..."

She falls silent trying to find the right words to describe her emotions.

"Yes," she admitted softly.

"I knew it!" Kerberos pounded the snow with his paw, "You must not let emotions freeze your judgement. Be strong, listen not to your heart but your mind. Flower... Sakura, there is more at stake then your heart. What you have spent your whole life walking towards... the world is at stake here."

Sakura stared down at the ground lost in thought, Kerberos fell silent and relaxed thinking he had finally got through to her. She slowly looked up at him, determination blazing in her eyes.

"Then let it burn."

It could sense it. The power growing stronger with every flap of its wings. It was so close...

There!

The power, undeniable, a beacon of energy pulsing amongst a scape of snow. It called to it, a song as enchanting as that of a siren's. it pumped it swings once more and roared loudly.

Its gold-red eyes blazed with triumph as it folded its wings and dropped from the skies charging straight at it target: a wounded man lying helpless in the snow.

It gave another loud roar and attacked.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"ROOOOOOWRRRRRRR!!!"

Sakura's eyes widened in shock at the sound that thundered through the mountains shaking the very foundations of the monoliths.

"What the?"

The ground around her turned dark as an immense shadow fell over them. Sakura looked up and freaked.

"Oh god!"

Kerberos stared up at the flying creature and growled.

"Sakura, get back," he snarled, his wings snapping open.

He planted himself right in front of Sakura ready to do battle with the incoming beast. The dragon, its gold-red eyes a stark contrast to its black as night scales, completely ignored them swerving expertly away from the guardian and its charge and headed straight for...

"Xiaolang!" Sakura cried.

The dragon gave a huge roar of triumph as it swooped down on the hapless human.

"Xiaolang!" Sakura screamed desperately.

Kerberos gave a huge roar and shoot a stream of fire at the dragon. The dragon instantly broke off its dive and changed trajectory narrowly missing the fire. Kerberos flexed his wings and with a mighty pump flew into the air.

"Get him! RUN!" Kerberos roared.

The dragon whirled on him as Kerberos roared back ready to do battle. Sakura roughly dragged Xiaolang to his feet supporting him as she took off doggedly across the snow, lion and dragon doing battle overhead.

She prayed they could get away in time.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"Where are we going?" Meiling demanded, the cold shortening her already short temper.

"To find the Fox and the Elder," Ruby Moon replied distractedly.

"The who and the what now?" Kiyone asked confused.

"Tomoyo and Nivaline," Meiling whispered.

"Oh."

She mulled over that little bit of information.

"What about Sakura and Xiaolang?" she asked.

"Kerberos is with them. They'll be fine," Ruby Moon assured them.

They continued walking in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly an ear-splitting roar filled the air; Kiyone and Meiling clapped their hands over their ears trying to block out the deafening sound.

"What the?"

"There!" Ruby Moon pointed towards the direction of the sound.

They all ran as fast as they could towards the origin of the roar and soon reached a cliff overlooking a gentle valley bellow.

"It's them!" Kiyone gasped seeing Nivaline and Tomoyo below.

They watched in horror as the ice beast emerged from around a bend, slowly gaining of the feeling duo.

"TOMOYO!" Meiling yelled.

The Japanese Angel suddenly whirled around and fired a blast of energy from the mirror at the ice-beast slowing it down somewhat.

"What is that thing?" Kiyone whispered, staring at the monster.

"I'm taking a wild stab and saying monster," Ruby Moon muttered.

Without any word, Ruby Moon leapt off the cliff and flew straight at the ice-beat. Meiling and Kiyone immediately began to climb down the cliff.

Ruby Moon flew straight in front of the beast trying to distract it.

"Hey! Popsicle Breath!" Ruby Moon taunted throwing a fistful of crystals at the monster.

The beast roared and flailed wildly trying to swat Ruby Moon out of the air but the guardian skilfully ducked its wild attacks and fired another torrent of crystals chipping slivers of ice away from its body. Tomoyo and Nivaline stopped and watched the battle as Meiling and Kiyone sprinted over to them.

"Tomoyo!" Meiling cried.  
"Kiyone," Nivaline sighed with relief.

"Meiling," Tomoyo gasped.

"Nivaline," Kiyone gave Nivaline a sharp nod.

"Meiling!" Nivaline exclaimed.

"Tomoyo," Kiyone gave her a warm smile.

"Kiyone," Tomoyo returned the smile.

"Nivaline!" Meiling hugged the woman.

They stared at each other.

"Are you okay?" they all demanded at once.

Suddenly behind them the beast gave a roar of fury and swatted Ruby Moon out of the air with its icy claws.

"Wait," Tomoyo gave them a dazzling smile as she aimed her mirror.

Sunlight powered up the mystical talisman as Tomoyo concentrated, a beam of pale energy blasted forwards crashing into the ice-beast, knocking it backwards. It stumbled awkwardly and lost its footing tumbling down onto one knee. Tomoyo fired another beam hit its again in the gut causing the icy behemoth to keel over and roar in pain.

"Does anybody disagree when I say we do the catch up thing after we run for our lives?" Tomoyo asked.

"Way ahead of you," Kiyone muttered sprinting off.

They fled as Ruby Moon recovered fluttering her butterfly wings gingerly before taking to the air again.

"Lucky shot," she muttered as the ice-beasts recovered from the energy blasts and righted itself.

It started to give chase after the girls again.

"Go!" Ruby Moon roared, "I'll hold it back!"

With that she unleashed an onslaught of crystal blasts stopping the ice-beast for now.

"How come Tomoyo's magic works?" Meiling demanded wheezing for breath.

Nivaline struggled to keep up her speed as she answered Meiling's question.

"I don't know," she frowned thoughtfully, "Maybe the presence of the guardians nearby boosts the talismans' powers allowing it to break through snow Geisha's hampering spells."

Meiling stopped running and tossed them a wicked smile.

"Alright, come on Clow Sword!" she ripped the bracelet away from her wrist.

The others stepped back.

"Blade of Clow, power of magic, power of light, surrender the sword! The force ignite! RELEASE!" Meiling yelled.

The bracelet glowed brightly as a magical wind sprung up around Meiling. Light blazed around her as Meiling held out her head ready to receive the sword and suddenly with no warning at all, the wind, the light, the magic all died out leaving a confused Meiling to stand there, bracelet in hand.

"What?!?"

"Maybe it's broken," Kiyone suggested, "Hit if a few times."

"It's an ancient mystical artefact, not a television," Nivaline snapped.

"Hello?" Tomoyo broke into their bickering, "More fleeing for our lives, less talking."

Reminded of the ice-beast, they immediately took off again.

"Wait," Meiling yelled.

"What?!?" Kiyone shouted at her, "Keeping running, you idiot!"

As if to emphasis her point, behind them Ruby Moon was knocked silly as another of the ice-beasts swipes made contact. The beast roared and immediately took flight after them, icy wings slicing through the air.

"What were the sword's latent powers again?" Meiling demanded.

"Power to control and protect the wearer from the elements," Nivaline recited.

Tomoyo stared at Meiling incredulously.

"You're not going to try and control that monster!" she yelled knowing what was on her friend's mind.

"What its basically ice, isn't it? That's an element and I can supposedly control that," Meiling argued.

Kiyone sighed in frustration waiting to hit Meiling over the head for her narrow mindedness.

"It's an ice shaped as a living Godzilla with bat wings!" she yelled, "It's made of magic and might I remind you a god's magic so do you really want to mess with that?"

Meiling fell silent at that piece of logic.

"That's probably the smartest thing she's ever said," Nivaline muttered to herself but Kiyone overheard her.

"Hey, back off Gandalf!" she snapped.

"I don't have a beard!" Nivaline cried.

"No, but you're old enough to!"

Ignoring them, Tomoyo whirled around and fired off another blast of energy stopping the monster in its tracks for a few valuable seconds.

"Again with the running," Tomoyo snapped cutting into their bickering.

"Wait, I think I can slow it down," Meiling concentrated.

The bracelet began glowing as Meiling tried to harness the power of the elements. With so much snow and ice around, Meiling went for that thinking it would be less draining than trying to summon something like fire or thunder, which was really what she needed. Energy flooded through her body, the bracelet amplifying it as Meiling focused conjuring up images of ice and snow in her mind. She pictured a blast of frigid wind hitting the monster and freezing it and willed it to happen. Her eyes flew open and she gasped as she felt power roar through her body. With a cry, she flung the energy at the monster.

Everybody gaped as a blast of snow and ice shot forwards and slammed into the ice-beast. The coldness of its icy body only helped Meiling's attack allowing ice to freeze itself around the monster in the blink of an eye.

"It's frozen," Nivaline noted eyeing the ice-beast, which was encased in a solid tomb of ice.

"Kinda ironic," Kiyone added.

They stood there, Meiling smiling happily about her success but suddenly a loud crack filled the air. They jumped as the ice prison shattered, the beast roaring as it escaped from its icy grip. With another roar, the beast glowed and seemed to take the extra ice into its body.

Everybody gaped at the monster as it sucked in the ice growing even bigger. An extra pair of horns sprouted as it shot up an extra metre into the air, its claws began more long and sharp, the curve more pronounced as its tail split into three growing two more whipping appendages.

Ruby Moon suddenly appeared beside them.

"Nice going," she muttered sarcastically.

"Whoops," Meiling whispered.

The now even bigger monster roared and charged straight at them, eager for blood.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Sakura and Xiaolang fled for their lives as overhead Kerberos did battle with the immense black dragon that had just seemed to appear from nowhere. It was huge about the size of a bus equipped with long claws and a mouth teeming with sharp teeth. Four twisted horns grew from its triangular head, a ridge of smaller horns sprouting out from the thick armoured scales that coated the top of its head all the way down to the bottom, where its two nostrils were flaring.

Curved horns also adorned its back from head to its long tapering tail, which ended in a bony curved triangle with razor sharp edges. It was this razor implement that was used to attack Kerberos, the flying guardian barrelling away from the whipping tail and retaliating with a tongue of golden flames. It lashed the dragon's back scoring the tough membrane that stretched across the thin bones that made up its wing. It howled with rage and twirled around with unexpected nimbleness, its jaws wide open ready to devour Kerberos. The guardian beat a hasty retreat diving down to avoid the incoming danger, the dragon instantly following behind jaws snapping on empty air.

Kerberos suddenly banked left, the dragon shooting past him until to stop its trajectory. The winged guardian swerved around behind the dragon and let loose with another burst of fire hitting the dragon from behind. The dragon roared in pain but the thick scales on its body blocked most of the damage. Kerberos hovered in the air as the dragon regrouped itself.

It charged at him again and the fight continued, neither winning nor losing.

Below them, Sakura was almost dragged down into the snow as Xiaolang slipped falling over.

"Xiaolang!" she grabbed his arm keeping him upright.

The jerk of movement on his clothes caused his coat to slip back revealing a patch of his chest. Sakura gasped as she saw blood staining through the rough scarf bandage she had bound to his wound.

"Oh god."

She moved to check his wound but a roar of pain overhead drew her back to reality. She risked a quick glance up and saw that Kerberos was now grimly clinging onto the dragon's back, claws tearing through thick scale as the dragon tried to throw him off.

"Come on," Sakura whispered hauling Xiaolang along.

Xiaolang muttered something incoherently to her as she half-dragged, half-carried him along trying to put as much distance between them and the fight above as possible.

"Don't die on me," Sakura whispered, "Don't die, damn it."

She paused to readjust her grip on him and he fell sideways into her. Sakura could feel blood seep through Xiaolang's clothes staining hers before the warm liquid touched her skin. She shivered at the feeling, a grimace crossing over her face but she continued to carry him throwing fearful looks at the dragon and Kerberos fight overhead every few seconds.

"You can't die," Sakura whispered fiercely, "I need you to be alive. I need you."

She looks at his feverish face and felt fear clench her body. How long could he last like this?

"You know Kerberos made me realise something... I love you," she confessed.

She gave him a small smile.

"You hear that?" she steadied him again as he stumbled, "I love you and I can't love you if you're dead. So you can't die, you've got something to live for."

They continued struggling through the snow.

"Awww... that so sweet," a mocking voice said from behind them.

The back of Sakura's head exploded with pain as something punched her from behind. Her knees buckle as her body went numb for a few seconds, just long enough for her to lose balance and fall in the snow taking Xiaolang down with her. Twisting herself free of Xiaolang's grip, she turned around in the snow and glared at who had attacked her so cowardly from behind.

"Interesting fact about predators," Psuedo-Sakura said innocently batting her eyelids down at her twin, "They pick off the sick and dying first."

Sakura glared at her, her fists clenching into tight fists.

"You still have to get through me."

Psuedo-Sakura smirked at her.

'Well, doesn't he have an adoring protector," she mocked.

Psuedo-Sakura's grin got wider and more vicious.

"Oh, I love you so much!" she taunted, mockingly her voice melodramatic and high-pitched, "I can't love you if you're dead. How sickeningly pathetic."

She looks down at Xiaolang.

"Oh no, that wound looks... mortal," Psuedo-Sakura switched her gaze back to Sakura, "Guess you do have to love a dead man."

"Get away from him," Sakura snapped.

"Make me," Psuedo-Sakura hissed.

"Gladly."

Sakura jumped up and punched Psuedo-Sakura in the jaw. The doppelganger's head snapped back, Sakura hitting her twice more with a left-right combination jab. Psuedo-Sakura grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from Xiaolang, easily tossing her into the snow. Sakura landed flat on her back as Psuedo-Sakura leapt into the air, balling her two fists together and bringing it down into an overhead strike trying to crush Sakura's chest. Sakura's eyes widened in shock seeing the incoming attack and she managed to just roll away in time.

Psuedo-Sakura hit the ground, her attack missing Sakura's head by inches. Sakura elbowed Psuedo-Sakura in the face knocking the doppelganger down. She leapt up and pressed an elbow against the mystical creature's chest trapping her down as she repeatedly punched her in the face.

Psuedo-Sakura struggled and finally managed to pressed a knee against Sakura's stomach and heaved with all her might throwing the Angel off her. Sakura landed in the snow and instantly flipped back up onto her feet meeting Psuedo-Sakura's next wave of attack.

A spin kick knocked Sakura backwards followed by a mid-air horizontal flip that resulted in two more kicks hitting Sakura. She tried to press the advantage throwing a left hook at her but Sakura steadied herself and flipped straight over Psuedo-Sakura landing safely on the other side. She spun around and kicked Psuedo-Sakura's back knocking her forwards before leaping up and firing off two small kicks that hit Psuedo-Sakura twice again before she landed again nimbly. Psuedo-Sakura steadied herself and came back with a mid-flip kick hitting Sakura in the chest.

Psuedo-Sakura threw a volley of punches, Sakura blocking each other kicking one arm away before head-butting Psuedo-Sakura. The Angel came in with two punches and a hop-kick that knocked the doppelganger back.

Psuedo-Sakura licked her lips tasting her own blood before shooting Sakura a wicked smile. Sakura leapt forwards but Psuedo-Sakura sidestepped her lunge grabbing the back of her jacket as she shot past and tossed her through the air.

Sakura slid through the snow stopping about two metres away as Psuedo-Sakura stalked towards her, wicked malice dancing in her eyes.

Suddenly a low triumphant roar filled the air, both girls turning around to see what was going on. The dragon whacked Kerberos with its tail knocking him down into the snow before charging straight at Xiaolang, a black missile of teeth and claws.

"NO!" Sakura jumped up and tried to get at Xiaolang but Psuedo-Sakura blocked her, grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her back.

She pulled Sakura to her until her back was pressed against the doppelganger's chest. Psuedo-Sakura smiled wickedly as she leant down and whispered in Sakura's ears.

"Why is it everybody you love gets hurt?" she asked, murmured softly.

She threw Sakura down into the snow.

"Your mom, your dear old dead brother," Psuedo-Sakura smirked at Sakura's shocked face, "Oh yes I know about him. Then there's your dad, Zachary, Chelsea and now him. Face it, you kill everyone you love."

Sakura glared up at her twin as Psuedo-Sakura smiled venomously at her.

"Well, this is pathetic," she taunted, "Look at you. Just a pathetic little girl, your family gone, your friends gone, no magic, no weapons, nothing. You have nothing left to fight with."

Psuedo-Sakura lashed out with her right foot.

Sakura grabbed it, inches from her face.

"There's still me," Sakura whispered.

She dumped Psuedo-Sakura down into the snow.

"And sometimes that's enough."

Sakura got up and calmly walked towards Psuedo-Sakura. She stared down at her calmly, Psuedo-Sakura glaring up at her. With a low growl, Sakura raised her right foot and stomped down on Psuedo-Sakura's neck. It snapped with an audible crunch.

"That's not enough to stop me," Psuedo-Sakura managed to croak out hoarsely, her wind pipe crushed, "it'll heal."

Sakura ignored her and turned towards the dragon.

"Get away from him!" she screamed, power rolling through her words, "JUST GO AWAY!"

Her eyes turned pure gold as her key unleashed a pulse of energy. Gold light surrounded the roaring dragon and with a flash of light it disappeared. Behind her Psuedo-Sakura was getting up massaging her neck gingerly.

"That was a nice trick but your boy is still going to die," Psuedo-Sakura smiled up at Sakura's furious face.

"Get out of my face," Sakura snarled.

Psuedo-Sakura's grin grew wider and she disappeared in a flash of light. She instantly reappeared at Xiaolang's side.

"Gladly," she grabbed Xiaolang's arm, "Ta ta for now!"

She disappeared taking Xiaolang with her. Sakura's eyes widened with shock as they returned to their normal grin, she stared at the spot where Xiaolang had laid trying to understand what she had just seen.

"Xiaolang," she whispered brokenly.

Kerberos glided to her side.

"Kerberos..." Sakura began calmly.

She turned and stared straight into the guardian's eyes, her own eyes turning pure gold once more.

"You're going to take me on your back. We're going to fly around and we're going to find my friends," Sakura commanded coldly.

"Then we're going to kill that bitch."

Kerberos hesitated.

"Understand?" Sakura barked.

The lion nodded and allowed Sakura to mount his back, with a powerful pump of his wings they took off.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

They stared at the incoming danger, the ground shaking under their very feet with every pounding step the now even bigger ice-beast took.

"Not good," Meiling whimpered.

"Great plan moron," Kiyone muttered.

"Let's save our lives before we starting playing the blame game people, okay?" Nivaline snapped.

"Good plan," Ruby Moon agreed.

She raised her arm and unleashed a hail of ruby crystals at the monster. It knocked chips off the beast's armoured body but did little to affect or slow it down.

"Oh, screw this," Ruby Moon muttered.

She fired attack, this time a beam of ruby light powering forwards and colliding with the ice-beast. The ice-beast was thrown back slightly but it steadied itself quickly ploughing its way through the attack albeit a little slowly this time.

"Wow, you actually slowed it down," Kiyone muttered.

"Like to see you do better," Ruby Moon retorted.

"Give me an Uzi," Kiyone challenged.

The monster took flight dodging Ruby Moon's second beamed attack and landed only three metres in front of them.

"GO UNDER!" Ruby Moon roared raising her arm again.

"WHAT?!?"  
"JUS GO!"

Ruby Moon unleashed her attack; it cleaved off one of the beast's horns as she coolly kept firing aiming for the face each time. The four of them took off racing towards the monster, Ruby Moon providing the diversion. Soon they reached the monster dodging and ducking wildly as the monster thrashed hooves stomping down, its three tails thrashing about violently. Tomoyo held up her mirror as she sped past one of its legs.

"DIE!" she screamed

She fired an energy blast that tore one of the tails in half. The loss of this seemed to unbalance the beast giving them just enough time to race past the monster. With a roar, it whirled around, its tails tearing chunks from the ground and valley walls as it gave chase.

Ruby Moon fired another beam at it but it easily dispersed the attack with a flick of its tail. Ruby Moon swore and charged straight at it but a casual backhand of its claw sending her flying.

Tomoyo fired another beam but the beast gave a powerful stomp, conjuring up concussive waves that ripped through the air and ground at her. It hit her head on tossing her backwards as her attack went wild shooting up into the sky. Meiling tried to summon another elemental attack anything to slow the beast down. She managed to unleash a freezing blast but her inexperience show, the attack backfiring on her and flinging her backwards. She was knocked into Nivaline and Kiyone throwing both of them down. Hitting the snow painfully, they looked up just in time to see the beast's hoofed foot coming down at them.

"NOOOO!!!" Tomoyo cried.

A gush of flames lashed the beast's head. It pitched sideways hitting the low valley ways with a thundering crash.

"LEAVE! GO BACK TO YOUR MISTRESS!" a familiar voice cried.

Gold light wrapped itself around the struggling beast and with a pulse of light it disappeared. Everybody glanced up searching for their saviour.

"SAKURA!" Meiling cried.

Kerberos glided in landing gently as Sakura leapt off his back. Meiling, Nivaline, Kiyone and Tomoyo got to their feet and raced towards their friend. Sakura laughed as they tackled her into a massive group hug.

"Sakura, where's Xiaolang?" Tomoyo asked worriedly.

Sakura's smile disappeared.

"They got Xiaolang."

"Who?" Tomoyo pressed confused.

"Psuedo-Sakura and since she's working with the Snow Geisha, I bet she's where she is and I bet Xiaolang's with them."

"So what do we do?" Meiling asked.

"We launch an all-out offence at them."

"Whoa, kamikaze much?" Kiyone demanded.

"I'm doing this even if I'm going alone."

"We're with you," Meiling, Tomoyo and Nivaline said firmly.

"Me too," Kiyone chimed in.

Ruby Moon fluttered over to them.

"You made it," she told Sakura and Kerberos, "Finally."

Sakura and Kerberos rolled their eyes at her.

"The way I see it..." Kiyone began.

"What?" Sakura asked curiously.

Kiyone beamed at them, Nivaline groaned inwardly not liking the impish look on her face.

"No time for subtleties or spy work..."

"So?" Tomoyo asked.

"We go in and blow the living hell out of everywhere that gets in our way," Kiyone finished.

"That's our plan?" Nivaline demanded.

"I like it," Meiling smirked.

Tomoyo sighed.

"When do we do this?"

"Now."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"What's this?" the Snow Geisha glared at Psuedo-Sakura.

Casually Psuedo-Sakura dumped Xiaolang onto the ground.

"Bait."

"What?" the Snow Geisha demanded, annoyance flashing in her blue eyes.

"Those Angels and their little friends?" Psuedo-Sakura explained with a sigh, "They will charge in at any moment to save him and this gives you the chance..."

"To kill them once and for all," the Snow Geisha whispered coldly.

"Very good," Psuedo-Sakura praised.

The Snow Geisha smirked up at Yue.

"And you're going to watch them die," she taunted.

Psuedo-Sakura followed the Snow Geisha's gaze and smiled wickedly seeing who she was talking to.

"Hey, if it isn't my old boss!"

"I'll kill you," Yue snapped coldly.

"Awfully non-threatening. Must be the stuck in the cage thing," Psuedo-Sakura taunted.

Yue opened his mouth to deliver something venomous but was stopped as the whole ice palace shook.

"What..." the Snow Geisha glided over to the rough opening that served as a window.

An immense horned ice-beast lay sprawled across the snowy clearing where the ice palace sat. Psuedo-Sakura frowned.

Where had that thing sprung from?

The Snow Geisha hissed in fury upon seeing the beast.

"They managed to stop it," she spat.

"You sent that after them," Psuedo-Sakura let out a low whistle, "Nasty."

"Get up!" the Snow Geisha commanded.

The monster lumbered to its feet.

"Stand guard," the Snow Geisha continued, "We'll have some guests arriving. And I want you to kill them."

The ice-beast roared and Psuedo-Sakura smirked wildly at the thought of the Angels tangling with that thing.

"This is going to be very interesting."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

It had taken them a while to get across the vast snowy plains but they had finally made it to a rocky overhang that overlooked the stronghold of the Snow Geisha. Upon seeing the immense icy apex of the spike-like palace and the army of ice demons and white foxes guarding it, Kiyone paled.

"That's going to be a tough puppy too crack open," she said flatly.

"Oh yeah," Meiling agreed, "But what's a little kamikaze spirit between friends?'

"So what's the sitch?" Ruby Moon asked.

They stared at each other.

"Kerberos, Ruby Moon, Sakura, Tomoyo and Meiling combine their attacks and try to punch their way through the army?" Nivaline suggested.

"Are you sure you can stop that?" Kerberos asked.

They turned to see what he was staring at. The massive ice-beast they have faced before also stood guard over the palace, a mountain amongst the ice-demons.

"How about Meiling tries an elemental blast?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yeah, the last time she tried that she just super-sized the beast," Ruby Moon nodded her head, "Great plan.'

"How about Kerberos flies us across?" Sakura tried.

"Sakura, those things can fly," Kiyone reminded her.

"Is there anybody who feels that coming back with an A-bomb is a good idea?" Ruby Moon asked, "Cause this little scene is reminding way too much of the Two Towers."

"We're going to need a lot of fire power," Meiling admitted, "And I haven't seen the movie."

"I have," Kiyone perked up, "And the numbers are even more unbalanced."

"Thanks for the Lord of the Rings analogy," Nivaline snapped, "Really helpful."

"Well, we could trying to get in from behind..."

"There's a sheer cliff face from behind..."

"Hey, I don't see you come up with a better pla..."

"Guys!" the note of panic in Tomoyo's voice got their attention.

Tomoyo was looking up at the sky.

"Tomoyo, what's wr..."

They all looked up, a lone ice-demon was gliding towards them.

"A sentry," Kiyone whispered, "Shi..."

The demon suddenly let out a high-pitched screech.

"They're onto us!" Meiling yelled.

Kerberos baked the ice-demon in midair with his flames but it was too late the message was out. They all looked back at the clearing and gulped as hundreds of ice demons took flight at them, the white foxes tearing through the snow running straight for them.

"We're on higher ground," Nivaline said hurriedly, "That should gives us an advantage over the foxes..."

"The ice-demons?" Sakura whispered.

"Pray?" Nivaline suggested weakly.

"We need weapons!" Kiyone snapped.

Ruby Moon gestured and five swords flew into the hands of the mortals.

"Much better," Kiyone noted satisfied as she tested her blade.

Meiling stared down at the sword.

"These are like the ones..." she looked up and frowned at the butterfly guardian.

"I used to fight you? Yeah?" Ruby Moon shrugged, "If you've got issues with, dump them and fight bare hand. It's up to you."

Meiling took an experimental swing and find that it was exactly how she liked how swords.

"Nice," Sakura noted.

"First wave!" Tomoyo yelled.

Kerberos and Ruby Moon took the air decimating the first few rows of ice-demons with a combined crystal and fire attack. Tomoyo used her mirror for the time being, her energy beam raking through the ice-demons, shattering every monster it touched. Meiling, Sakura, Nivaline and Kiyone stood guard at the edge of the overhang ready to do battle with the foxes that were now bounding up the cliff.

"Hold the line," Nivaline commanded softly as they started down at the carpet of white fur that swept up the rocky cliff.

The foxes hit the overhang with a flurry of snarls. Sakura kicked one back down as she swiped another, razor blade tearing through flesh and fur. Meiling backhanded a fox that leapt at her, throwing her sword through another.

They fought on valiantly slowly being overwhelmed with sheer numbers as the same thing happened in the skies above.

Ruby Moon had switched to her beam attack desperately trying to beat back the seemingly endless army of ice-demons that just kept flying in at them. Tomoyo was splitting her time between blasting the demons and blasting the foxes trying to keep both at bay, Kerberos seemed to be having the most effect on the ice-demons with his flames so the crafty ice monsters focused most of their numbers on him trying to swamp him with their numbers.

"We're going to lose," Nivaline gritted her teeth as she came down on a fox with an overhead swing.  
It jumped aside dodging the strike but Nivaline kicked it down the cliff.

"Then let's try to take out as many as possible," Kiyone gave a loud war cry and crashed into the foxes numbers, her sword a silver blur as she struck over and over again.

Sakura jumped into Nivaline's line of vision cleaving a fox in two, kicking another away.

"BACK!" Sakura roared, her left hand shooting forwards.

The key let out a pulse of energy and flung the foxes back giving them precious seconds of calm. Tomoyo blasted a beam towards the foxes holding them back for a few more seconds, overhead the screech of ice-demons were grating as Kerberos and Ruby Moon fended them off.

"We need some bigger weapons," Kiyone growled.

Meiling gritted her teeth in frustration. If only she could control the bracelet's power but it was hard, the elemental magic coursing through it was strong, wild and unpredictable. It was hopeless.

"No," Meiling whispered.

She was strong than it. She would force it to bend to her will. Meiling focused her attention onto the tiny ruby butterfly hanging around her wrist even as a new wave of foxes leapt over the edge at them.

She had to concentrate...

She gritted her teeth forcing everything out, the growl of foxes, the screech of ice-demons, the multiple explosions as the guardians and Tomoyo released their attacks.

There!

It was like a dam had burst in her mind.

The energy, the power it coursed through her filling her very soul.

The air around her thrummed with power as Meiling smiled knowing that she was the master of this energy.

Meiling's eyes snapped open and stared straight into the lightning blue eyes of the fox standing right in front of her.

"Earth," she said calmly.

Nivaline, Kiyone and Sakura stared at her all of them feeling the power rolling off her in invisible waves. The ground beneath them shook as Meiling focused. The earth itself shook and trembled as Meiling bore her will down on it forcing it do what she willed. The foxes climbing up the cliff was knocked back down as the shaking became more and more pronounced, more violet.

"Bury them," Meiling commanded.

A huge section of the cliff they were standing on exploded forwards burying the foxes in an avalanche of ice and rubble. The others stared at Meiling in shock as the Asian Angel looked up at the sky and the battling ice-demons.

"Strike."

There was a clap of thunder and a white flash so bright it almost blinded the others. The ice-demons shrieked as their bodies melted and instantly vaporised unable to stand up to the magical attack. When the light cleared about a quarter of the ice-demons had been eradicated, just like that in the blink of an eye.

"Whoa," Kiyone murmured.

"Let's go!" Sakura yelled jumping down.

She landed on the huge pile of debris that now stood at the edge of the overhang and ran down its gentle slope towards the palace. The immense ice-beast standing guard moved to intercept her.

"BACK!" Sakura commanded.

The key flashed the ice-beast was hurled backwards straight into the palace, its weight punching a whole in one of the walls forming a door for Sakura.

"Thanks," she called up at the dazed monster.

Before it could react Sakura, Meiling, Kiyone and Nivaline were inside and up in the tallest part of the palace the Snow Geisha roared with rage.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"Damn it!" the demonic goddess of ice and snow roared with fury, the wind outside echoing her rage, "How can those..."

"They are the chosen," Yue informed her from above.

The Snow Geisha glared at him before switching her attention back to the battle outside. Four of those damn mortals had made their way into her palace whilst the last one and the two guardians were still doing battle destroying the remainder of her ice-demon army.

"Attack them!" she roared at her ice-beast.

The icy behemoth ambled towards the remaining three as the Snow Geisha whirled around and glared at Psuedo-Sakura.

"You stand guard," she snapped as she moved towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Psuedo-Sakura demanded.

"To kill those damn mortals."

With that she glided out of the door as Psuedo-Sakura smirked at the unconscious Xiaolang and the imprisoned Yue.

"Well, boys. We are going to have fun."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"Incoming!" Tomoyo yelled as the ice-beast lumbered towards them.

Kerberos sent a final gust of fire at the ice-demons wiping out another row of them before turning one the ice-beast. Tomoyo expertly flipped her mirror around, aimed and fired. Ruby Moon unleashed another blast of ruby energy.

The three attacks him simultaneously each striking a different part of the monster. Kerberos's flames lashed its face, Tomoyo going for the legs as Ruby Moon's attacks hit one of its hands cleaving off two claws but still the beast kept coming.

"Attack again!" Ruby Moon yelled, "Aim for the legs!"

"WATCH OUT!" Tomoyo yelled.

The ice-demons had taken advantage of their inattention to rain down on them. It took a few precious seconds to beat them off allowing the ice-beast to come even closer towards them. Another wave of attacks splashed forwards striking the beast slowing it down but with a swipe of its claws it dispersed the attacks.

"Uh oh," Tomoyo whispered.

"TOMOYO! RUN!" Ruby Moon yelled.

Tomoyo took off at a dead sprint sliding down the debris pile standing in front of the cliff. Her wild slide took her within three metres of the beast as it moved to attack; Tomoyo swung her mirror up in front of her and discharged another energy beam attack.

The monster bellowed, the attack crashing into its face. It tore a huge chunk off, Tomoyo taking advantage of its pain to race past the beast. It tried to stomp on her but Tomoyo leapt to the side hitting the ground rolling and reeling off another beam in mid-roll.

This one struck its leg knocking it unbalance, Tomoyo hurriedly got out of the way as the beast fell. With the monster temporarily disabled it was an easy run towards the gaping hole in the palace wall.

When she was inside, Tomoyo finally let out a sigh of relief.

Phase one was complete.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Sakura, Meiling, Kiyone and Nivaline ran across the slippery icy surface balancing themselves expertly as they made their way to what roughly looked like a set of stairs carved from ice.

"You dare invade my palace?" a booming voice roared.

"Not her again," Kiyone moaned.

The Snow Geisha appeared before them in all her cold beauty, her katana swords drawn and ready to fight.

"Mortals, you shall face the full power of my wrath," the Snow Geisha hissed.

"Saku, we'll hold her. You find Xiaolang okay?" Meiling whispered.

Sakura nodded, bringing her sword up in a defensive stance. As one the quartet charged, the Snow Geisha laughed as she met their attacks.

She blocked Kiyone's swing with her left sword and parried Nivaline's with her right, with a roar she heaved both of them away. Both women hit the ice non too gently as Sakura and Meiling lunged at the Snow Geisha.

"CLANG!"  
"CLANG!  
Both Angel's swings were blocked by the Snow Geisha's swords. The goddess whirled around gracefully, her kimono spinning around her like a dress as both girls were forced to back off away from the snow queen's twirling swords. The Snow Geisha stopped suddenly and lunged forwards.

"CLANG!"

She brought both blades down in an overhead swing, Meiling block them with her own sword.

"SAKURA! GO!" Meiling yelled straining against the goddess.

Sakura gave her friend one last helpless look before sprinting towards the stairs and disappearing up them, the Snow Geisha howling with rage. But before she could do anything to stop them, Nivaline and Kiyone leapt into the fray. The Snow Geisha broke away from Meiling and met both of their swings leaving Meiling free to attack. The Snow Geisha glared at them.

"This is unfair," she hissed, her blue eyes cold.

"You're a god," Meiling snapped.

"Stop it with the boo-hoo act," Kiyone growled, "And fight!"

The Snow Geisha glared at them and threw Kiyone and Nivaline's swords away from her. She spun around gracefully and blocked Meiling's incoming blow.

"Pathetic," she whispered.

Nivaline came at her with a thrust, the Snow Geisha gracefully bending her stomach to avoid it. The metal sliced through air as the Snow Geisha smirked at Nivaline.

"Mortals, you think you can beat me."

She swung one of her swords at Kiyone using the other to block Meiling's second strike. Kiyone blocked the Snow Geisha's attack as the goddess elbowed Nivaline in the face knocking her back.

"I'm the goddess of the mountains, this is my realm," the Snow Geisha whispered, "There is no way you can beat me."

"I like to test that theory," Nivaline hissed.

All three women came at her thrusting their sword outwards; the Snow Geisha gracefully bent backwards, all of the blades shooting past over her harmlessly.

"Please fight," the Snow Geisha taunted, "It's much more fun to kill you that way."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Sakura raced up the flight of stairs that went round and round along the inner walls of the palace. Down below she could see the Snow Geisha fighting the others and grimaced seeing that the goddess was truly skilled managing to fend off all three of them at once.

She winced seeing all three of them being sent flying across the room. She reached the top the stairs and immediately headed straight to the open doorway right in front of her.

"Well, if it isn't dear sweet me," Psuedo-Sakura drawled.

"Bitch."

"Uh, uh," Psuedo-Sakura waved a finger at her, "Is that really the way to talk..."

She hauled Xiaolang up to his feet and trapped him to her as she produced a knife.

"... to the girl with a knife to your boyfriend's throat?" Psuedo-Sakura taunted.

She pressed the blade tightly against Xiaolang's skin. The man thrashed wildly, not really understanding what was going on in his feverish state but enough to know he was in danger.

"I'll kill you," a voice said from above them.

"Shut it, Jackass-in-a-box," Psuedo-Sakura snapped.

"Yue!" Sakura gaped at the winged guardian who was trapped in a cage suspended in the air above them.

"So, Sakura," Psuedo-Sakura smirked, "Isn't this a fun little game?"

"What game?" Sakura narrowed her eyes at the doppelganger as she brought her sword up to a defensive position.

"A fun game," Psuedo-Sakura let out a short trill of laughter, "The rules are quite simple, give me the star key and I'll let your boy live."

"Why?" Sakura demanded.

"Why?" Psuedo-Sakura smirked wildly, "it's a thing of power and I need that power to extend my life. See once you morons get your hands on the third book, I'm done. I'm finished. I'm gone. I need one of the talismans to keep me alive and since you're here... I guess it's the key I'll be taking."

"Don't listen to her," Yue called from above them, "She won't let him live. She's lying."

Sakura glared at Psuedo-Sakura as she answered Yue.

"I know. She's talking isn't she?"

"Tick, tock, Sakura," Psuedo-Sakura taunted, "My dagger hand's kinda twitchy. I might accidentally slice his throat from ear to ear if we don't hurry this up."

"How do I know you'll let him live?" Sakura demanded.

"Scout's honour."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh yeah, really assuring," Sakura spat.

"That's all the assurance you're going to get," Psuedo-Sakura retorted coolly, "What's it going to be? You're going to give up the key or the man you love? Ooo... isn't this just a swell little Hollywood blockbuster scenario?"

Sakura stared at Psuedo-Sakura, who smiled calmly back at her. She waved the dagger at her twin.

"Come on, Sakura," Psuedo-Sakura taunted, "Make your choice."

"Fine," Sakura said finally.

Psuedo-Sakura cocked an eyebrow.

"Fine, I'll get the key or fine as in I start making big with the blood and the slashing?" Psuedo-Sakura laughed, "I'll be happy either way."

"We'll make a trade," Sakura slowly looped the key from around her neck, "I'll throw you the key, you push Xiaolang towards me."

"Don't do it!" Yue yelled punching the icy bars of his cage, "Don't listen to her!"

"Shut up!" Psuedo-Sakura barked.

She turned her attention back to Sakura.  
"Deal," she pulled the dagger away from Xiaolang, "On the count of three. One... two..."

Sakura cocked her arm back ready to thrown the key across, Yue looking on helpless. He tried one more time.

"Don't do this! The world will be destroyed!"

"Three," Sakura and Psuedo-Sakura said at the same time.

Psuedo-Sakura roughly pushed Xiaolang across to Sakura as the Angel hurled the key at her doppelganger.

"Xiaolang," Sakura caught the man gently as Psuedo-Sakura laughed with triumph.

"In your face, Yue!" she taunted as she reached out to the catch the key

Sakura smirked at Psuedo-Sakura.

"You know what?" Sakura tossed her an evil smile, "You're a moron."

Psuedo-Sakura's eyes widened in shock as she realised she had been tricked.

"FLY!" Sakura yelled.

Sakura's eyes blazed with gold. The key even without any contact with its wielder instantly reacted flaring with power. A flash of gold light struck Psuedo-Sakura and she was knocked backwards into an icy wall.

"You betrayed me," Psuedo-Sakura stared at her, a hurt look on her face, "That was my plan!"

"Once again, you're a moron and you underestimated me," Sakura reached out with her hands, "TO ME!"

The key flew back into her hands.

"SHATTER!" Sakura commanded.

The ice cage Yue was trapped in instantly exploded spraying ice everywhere, with a yell of triumph the moon archer broke free landing gently on the ground.

"So you tricked me," Psuedo-Sakura smirked at her, "But even if you beat me. It ain't over. You still got the big bad Void to beat."

"We'll beat her," Sakura snapped.

"Then what," Psuedo-Sakura laughed at her, "Oh god, you don't know do you. Either way you're going to lose your boy."

Sakura stared at her.

"You'll die or you'll lose him," Psuedo-Sakura whispered venomously, "Don't you know the curse?"

"Enough!" Yue thundered, "You have meddled for the last time."

"You sound so shocked," Psuedo-Sakura laughed, "I am what you created me to be. I can't change, that is my curse and yours. You're doomed to be forever cryptic, cold and never tell secrets to the chosen three. Secrets like the curse of the Void card."

"What curse?" Sakura asked fiercely.

"It is nothing," Yue said coldly.

"Nothing?!? I'm going to lose Xiaolang either way because of a curse and that's nothing?" Sakura demanded, "What curse?"

Psuedo-Sakura laughed.

"Squirm your way out of this one, Yue," Psuedo-Sakura taunted.

"I'll kill you," Yue howled.

"You can't kill me," Psuedo-Sakura shot back, "I'm your challenge as long as the third book remains hidden, I live. You made but you can't destroy me. I know that. You know that."

"Oh, I'm so going to love it when we get the book," Sakura snapped, "Just to see you die once and for all."

Psuedo-Sakura smiled at Sakura as her dagger appeared in her hands again.

"Still gives me to time to at least kill one of you," she hurled the knife at Xiaolang.

Sakura moved instantly kicking the blade out of the air as Psuedo-Sakura shot forwards. Yue made a gesture and a gleaming silver bow appeared in his hands. He stretched the string back and a crystal arrow appeared ready to fire. He let loose but Psuedo-Sakura disappeared in mid-air the arrow embedding itself into the ice.

"I'm over here!' Psuedo-Sakura reappeared again and punched Sakura in the face.

The Angel fell backwards as Psuedo-Sakura fell on her. Yue stepped back unsure of what to do, unable to get a clear shot as both girls tumbled around on the icy floor trying to beat the other one down.

"God, you're so blood annoying!" Sakura hissed grabbing Psuedo-Sakura's head and slamming it against the floor.

"So much suppressed anger," Psuedo-Sakura noted, Must be that time of the month ago."

She head-butted Sakura and threw her away. Yue charged at her seeing an opening.

"Get lost, Sailor Moon," Psuedo-Sakura snapped.

She leg-swept him sending him tumbling down before kicking him in the face with the back of her heel knocking him out.

"Just you and me sunshine," Psuedo-Sakura taunted slowly getting up, "This is going to be fun."

She came at Sakura, hitting the Angel with a flurry of punches and kicks too fast for the girl to block. She slammed Sakura against the wall, choking her slowly with her right hand.

"Hmmm..." Psuedo-Sakura whispered, "Should I kill you by choking you or by beating you to death?"

She slammed Sakura against the wall rattling the Angel's skull. Sakura's vision began to dull as she gasped for air; she struggled weakly against the doppelganger's powerful grip.

"What will it be?"

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

Kiyone hit the wall for perhaps the tenth time in as many minutes and swore loudly.

"Damn it!" Kiyone yelled leaping back into the fight.

The Snow Geisha was no doubt a goddess, her speed, her fighting technique, her strength just a little too perfect than was humanly possible. She had fended off... no beaten off all three of them and she still hadn't broken a sweat.

Meiling parried the Snow Geisha's upward strike and had to hurry to block her crescent sweep that came flying in from the side. They locked blades, straining against each other the Snow Geisha slowly overpowering the Asian Angel. Nivaline tried sneaking in from behind but the Snow Geisha's socked and sandalled foot shot up hitting her in the knee. Nivaline fell clutching her injured leg.

"Sticking behind the enemy is dishonourable," the Snow Geisha lectured.

"And throwing tonnes and tonnes of magic isn't?" Meiling hissed.

The Snow Geisha glared at her and sprung from their tangle, her twin blades hissing through the air. Meiling back-pedalled to avoid the two swipes and lost her balance hitting the icy ground heavily.

"I'm a goddess, I don't adhere to pathetic mortal rules," the Snow Geisha announced arrogantly, "You're beneath me anyway, I don't have to battle you as if you were equal."

She flipped one sword over until the blade was pointing towards and with a loud yell she sprung at Meiling ready to ran the downed girl straight through. Meiling rolled away hurriedly, the blade punching into the ice floor as Kiyone leapt at the goddess. Using the stuck sword as a balance, the goddess leapt into the air kicking out with both feet. Kiyone was sent flying backwards, her body slamming into an ice wall and the force of the impact causing a considerable chunk of it to rain down on her as she slid to the ground, dazed.

Meiling came at the goddess with a head-height side slash but the sword was blocked by the Snow Geisha's lone katana sword. Letting go of the sword embedded into the ice, the goddess's white hands snaked past the two straining swords and grabbed Meiling's neck. With vicious speed and strength, she hurled the girl across the room. Meiling hit another wall and achieved a similar result to Kiyone's, chips of ice falling from the ruined wall and onto her.

Nivaline jumped into a fencer's position trying to hold the snow goddess back with shift jabs of her sword but the Snow Geisha caught the blade with her bare hands and yanked it away from Nivaline. She cracked the Elder across the face with a backhand sending her flying. Another wall was ruined as Nivaline slid to the ground.

"Pathetic mortals," she sighed, "None of you have the power to defeat me."

A blast of pale energy slammed into the Snow Geisha's body sending her flying backwards. Her sword flew out of her hands as she slid across the ice finally come to an abrupt stop as she hit a wall.

"Do you want to say that again?" Tomoyo snarled, "Bitch."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"End of line, Sakura," Psuedo-Sakura sighed, "Your life flashing before your eyes. Nerd, nerd, nerd, nerd, being an Angel, getting your ass kicked, almost getting shagged... kinda boring isn't it?"

Sakura's face was going red and her eyes began to water as she struggled to break free. Psuedo-Sakura shook her violently.

"Stop that, I'm being nice. You know I could just snap your neck like a twig," Psuedo-Sakura laughed, "Hey! That's an idea! I should do that."

Sakura's fists weakly rained down on Psuedo-Sakura's arm as the doppelganger laughed.

"Wow, that is weak," she pulled a sad face, "Guess dolly's all broken now. Better put it out of its miser..."

"Source of light with ancient spin, send forth the magic power within, oracles of gold, wood, fire, earth, clouds, wind, rain, and electricity... force, know my plight; release the light," a weak voice chanted from behind them.

Psuedo-Sakura was jerked roughly away from Sakura.

"What the?" the doppelganger gasped as she was roughly pushed against the wall.

"Stay away from her," Xiaolang was almost about to fall over, he was shaking that bad, but his amber eyes blazed with an inner strength.

He ran Psuedo-Sakura through with the sword he had conjured into his hand pinning her down onto the ice wall.

"Ow!" Psuedo-Sakura gasped.

Xiaolang purred the sword up to its hilt trapping her. He stumbled away from her and almost fell but Sakura caught him.

"Xiaolang," Sakura gasped.

"Saved you," Xiaolang gave her a weak smile but succumbing to his wounds and falling unconscious again.

Yue was slowly coming to.

"What the?" he stared at the sword that was pinning Psuedo-Sakura to the wall.

His eyes widened in recognition.

"The tri-sword!" he gasped.

"What?!?"

"The tri-sword," Yue repeated again.

"Huh?"

"This is the tri-sword?" Psuedo-Sakura demanded still pinned to the word, "It bloody hurts!"

"What is the tri-sword?" Sakura asked frantically trying to understand.

"It's a thing of power and is needed to revive the Void."

"What?" Sakura yelped.

"It's long and compli..."

Outside a thundering roar filled the air, Sakura ran to the window and stared in horror.

"Oh god," she whimpered.

The black dragon was back.

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"You pathetic mortal!" the Snow Geisha crawled to her feet, "How dare you harm me with your parlour tricks!"

Tomoyo calmly put the mirror down by her side.

"What are you doing?" the Snow Geisha cried, "Attack me, damn it!"

"No."

"What?" Meiling, who was coming to, stared at her, "Why not?"

"She wants us to."

"Duh, she wants to kill us," Kiyone muttered.

"No, if she wanted to she would have just frozen you into ice blocks," Tomoyo stared at the Snow Geisha, "She wants to die."

"LIAR!" the Snow Geisha roared collapsing to her knees.

"You feel betrayed, don't you?" Tomoyo continued, "You thought there was this wonderful man who loved you..."

"Liar..." the Snow Geisha whispered.

"But he didn't. He led you on and when you thought he felt the same for you, he betrayed you," Tomoyo closed her eyes trying to fight back the pain at Eriol's betrayal, "He ripped your heart out."

The Snow Geisha's act of defiance was slowly melting away.

"No..." her voice a ghost of a whisper.

"I've been standing here a while, I was going to attack you but something are you puzzled me," Tomoyo said slowly, "You're hurting, you're bleeding on the inside and it's killing so much, you wish you could just die."

"You don't understand..."

Tomoyo laughed harshly.

"Of course I understand," she snapped, "It's hell, it's a living hell from which you can't escape. You want to hurt him but you can't, you want to hate him but you can't. You're scared because he has all this power over you and you can't do a goddamn thing about it. You're scared because you know if he just appears at your door, you'll take him back no matter what he's done to you."

The Snow Geisha was crying.

"He said he loved me," the Snow Geisha cried violently, "He even gave me a gift."

"He was using you," Tomoyo took a step towards the Snow Geisha, "I've been used. I know what's it like. I know my emotions are probably not as strong as yours but I know what you're feeling. I've been there."

She took another step.

"There's all this pain but most of all guilt. Did I do something wrong?"

She took another step.

"Was it something I did?"

She was close enough to touch the goddess now.

"It's like a drug. You know you shouldn't think about him or the things you shared because it just hurts you more than you can every say but you can't. It sucks you in again and you're caught in this cycle of pain, anger and betrayal."

She knelt down and touched the goddess gently noting the woman's skin was as cold as ice.

"The only way to heal. The only way is to give it up, give up everything he gave you, and try to deal with your memories because you know you can never forget them. Give up everything you shared because somehow it'll weaken the memory of the betrayal. It takes time but just accepting that it's over and never was is the first step."

The Snow Geisha was crying weakly.

"He said he loved me."

"He said that to me too," Tomoyo whispered trapped in her memory of Eriol.

"The key to healing is to give everything up?" the Snow Geisha asked gently with all the vulnerability of a child.

"If the memory it conjures is too powerful and poisonous. Yes."

"Then take this," the Snow Geisha held out her hand, an orb of silver floated there several inches above her palm, "He gave this to me as a token of our love. If I keep this, it'll just eat at me making me remember for eternity about the pain and anger I feel now."

Tomoyo took the orb and started as the light began transforming. It grew bigger, losing its round edges and forming a rough rectangle. Silver glinted in the light as Tomoyo studied the light blue leather cover noting the way the silver was intricately manipulated to the show the form of a winged archer.

The book of Yue Gong Jian Shou.

It was finally hers.

"I'm sorry," Tomoyo whispered, a world of sadness in her voice.

"I am too," the Snow Geisha murmured.

"It'll take time but someday you'll be able to lessen the pain."

The Snow Geisha bowed her head.

"You're not a mortal," she whispered, "You're a goddess."

"Thank you."

"Way to go, Tomoyo," Meiling cheered gently.

Tomoyo stared at her.

"Thank you."

Suddenly the whole palace shook as if something heavy slammed into it.

"What the?"

The Snow Geisha looked up and narrowed her eyes at something only she could see.

"Dragon..." she hissed, "A dragon dares defile my domain!?!"  
She made a wild gesture with her hand as azure light blasted out from her, punching through a wall and shooting off into the air outside. The Snow Geisha turned to look into their stunned faces.

"It's been taken care of."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

"Dragon!" Sakura gasped, "That's the dragon that attacked Xiaolang!"

"Why him?" Yue demanded, "A dragon would never come here."

They backed hurriedly away from the window as the dragon slammed into the palace shaking it to its very foundation as it tried to squeeze its snout through the tiny window. It gave up and backed away a little ready to charge again.

"Unless it was sent," Sakura gasped, "What if it is from Noir, what if he is after the tri-sword? Xiaolang had it with him all along that why it came after him."

"Noir's after the tri-sword," Yue cursed, "He's trying to resurrect the Void."

A gasp of surprise behind them made them whirl around, Psuedo-Sakura's skin was glowing a brilliant white.

"What the?" Sakura gasped.

Yue smirked.

"It is done."

"What?"

"The third book is in the possession of the Fox. My creation is no longer needed. She is done."

"NOOOO!!!" Psuedo-Sakura yelled, "DAMN IT! NO!"

She thrashed against something only she could see but it was inevitable. White light consumed her body and with a brilliant flash she disappeared, once and for all.

"So she's taken care off," Sakura smiled wickedly.

A worried look flitted across her face.

"But the dragon," she turned to look outside just in time to see a bright burst of azure light consume the dragon.

The light flashed away and disappeared. Sakura and Yue gaped at the results: the dragon was now encased in a solid block of ice. It immediately plummeted straight down from the air shattering on the cold hard ground below. Sakura stared down at the mess below and grimaced.

"Ewww..." she wrinkled her nose.

"It's dead?"

"It's dead."

A silence descended onto the room. Sakura glared at Yue.

"What was that curse of the Void card she was talking about?" Sakura demanded.

"It was no..."

"Don't lie to me. What was that about?"

Yue sighed as he reluctantly began talking.

"There is a curse," he admitted.

"What does it do?"

Yue stared at her sadly.

"The curse of the Void card is the ones who seal it will be forced to lose everyone they love."

"Huh?"

"If you seal the Void card away and save the world, all the people who love you will lose their love for you. They will turn away from you, even shun you. Everybody," Yue paused "If you win. You'll lose everyone you care about. You will be forced to live in this world alone... unloved."

Sakura stared at him.

"Oh."

_A A A A A A A A A A A A A _

CLIFFHANGER!!!!! SORRY ABOUT THE MASSIVE DELAYS!!! SORRY!!!! Yes, I tweaked the Void card's curse thing a little instead of the most powerful person losing their ability to love. This new curse means that if the Void card is sealed all the people who love the Angels (Marcus, Xiaolang/Syaoran, Lily, Zachary, Diana, Fujitaka, Kiyone, Nivaline etc.) will lose their love for the Angels and will even reject them! Now isn't that screwed? They win, they lose everything they love, they lose and the whole world is destroyed. Ahhh... dilemmas, don't you love them?

Next chapter:

With only 24 hours left until the prophesised reawakening of the Void card, the Angels have to say goodbye to the ones they love knowing that if they succeed the love between them will disappear once and for all. Reflections, flashbacks and conversations abound as the Angels prepare themselves for war. Find out what happens in... _The calm before_

A/Notes: Sorry for the massive delay. I was hit with a bout of I-don't-want-to-do-anything and then when I began writing again, my Internet went screwy. This was actually ready two weeks ago but I couldn't post it... sorry!

For all who are interested there are two chapters left the next one and the grand finale, which will be called Full Circle and then the final epilogue! Hope you've enjoyed the story so far.

No! Psuedo-Sakura (one of my fav. characters) is gone... or is she? (Dun, dun, dun... okay I'll stop)


	32. The calm before

YAY! A new chapter is up and it's the second last one! Please review! And sorry for the delay!

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, what's Clamp is Clamp's.

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 31: The calm before...**

_Previously on Syaoran's Angels..._

"Who is she?"

"She's the Snow Geisha, the goddess of ice and snow."

"What happened?" Xiaolang asked.

"I don't know," Sakura replied gingerly probing his wound, "But I can't see the others."

"We're lost?"

"And stranded."

* * *

"Where are we?" Meiling looked around, for miles and miles on end all she saw was a land frozen in the grips of winter. 

"Completely lost," Kiyone sighed.

"The others?"

"Gone."

"We're trapped."

"Oh yeah," Kiyone smiled grimly, "And screwed."

* * *

"What happened?" Tomoyo asked dully. 

"Don't know. We were apparently swept away by the blizzard," Nivaline sighed, "The Cliff notes? We're lost. The others seemed to have been swept off somewhere. We're no longer in Kansas and the Wicked Witch is onto us."

"Damn," Tomoyo muttered trying to sit up.

"Damn right."

* * *

"The good old divide and conquer plan," Psuedo-Sakura nodded her approval, "Yue will be pleased." 

"And if I kill them?" the Snow Geisha whirled on her, her blue eyes wide and pleading, "Will he come?"

"When you do," Psuedo-Sakura smiled at her calmly, "He will come. He will see you have protected his gift and is worthy of his love."

"Yue," the Snow Geisha whispered lovingly glancing up at the sky, "We shall be together!"

* * *

"Not wanting to pile log on the pyre of misery but…" Meiling hesitated, "Well… umm… my magic's kinda… well you know… disabled?"

* * *

"We stop her," Yue gritted his teeth as he imagined wringing his creation's neck. 

"I thought _we _weren't supposed to interfere," Ruby Moon muttered, her red eyes mocking.

"Shut up," Yue growled before disappearing in a blaze of silver light.

Ruby Moon laughed disappearing as well as Kerberos shook his head, summoned his magic around him and vanished with a burst of golden light.

The guardian were going to join the battle.

* * *

"They come," Tomoyo whispered dreamily, her voice sounding as though she was very far away, "The Ice Maiden awaits. A cage of winter and cold light. A trap. The butterfly, the lion they flee but the archer; he's..." 

Tomoyo gasped loudly.

"Tomoyo?" Nivaline asked gently.

Tomoyo stared up at her, silver blazing in her eyes once more.

"He is snared."

* * *

The Snow Geisha glared at him. 

"Then let me have my own..." a spine-chilling smile flitted across her face, "Fun."

She gestured wildly with her hands and a cage of ice and magic fell from the ceiling of the palace sealing Yue within. The cage was made from shards and blocks of ice thrown hazardously together, there were no regular openings in the cage only a few spaces here and there to left in air and thin shafts of light. Spikes of ice poked out precariously from all sides of the cage forcing Yue into an uncomfortable position to avoid them all. The Snow Geisha gestured again and the cage was levitated into the air hanging about three metres from the icy floor.

* * *

"Good job," her voice was guttural and low. 

Eriol stared up at her eyes, unable to comprehend what was going on.

"You haven't failed me," the possessed air stewardess continued.

Suddenly she stopped and blinked at Eriol, awareness rushing back into her eyes. She blinked again, confused.

"Would you like a drink, sir?"

* * *

"Beast of dark wings and ravaging claws," Noir chanted, his voice rough and empowered with arcane enchantments, "Of fire and ancient rage, I summon thee. Beast of hellish realms and forgotten past. Hear my sirens call and come to me.' 

The red flames of the candles flared shooting up metres into the air, the crystal began to shake violently rattling against the floorboard.

"By the name of the dragon goddess Tiamat, goddess of pain and chaos I beckon thee! With my words the ancient chains shatter and set thee free!"

The crystal shattered spraying Noir with chips of shrapnel as the candles exploded melting into a river of molten wax. A swirling vortex of dark energy formed in the air in front of Noir, the man feeding the gateway with his energy. With a final burst of energy, the vortex burst open and something shot out.

"You know what I see," Noir whispered, his voice rich with power.

The thing growled.

"Now go, find it."

* * *

"Sakura," Xiaolang murmured agitatedly. 

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he whispered deliriously.

Sakura stared down at him, stunned.

* * *

"Hey, if I were you I would be more grateful towards the chick that just saved your life." 

"How?" she murmured faintly, "How come last time were all..."

Ruby Moon winked at her.

"Mistress cryptic slash Xena? Playing a part, honey."

* * *

"Kerberos!" Sakura cried happily seeing the armoured and winged lion guardian.

* * *

Kerberos froze, his amber eyes staring the girl intently. 

"You're in love with him."

Sakura's eyes widened for a fraction of a second but it was enough to tell Kerberos the answer.

"No... I..."

She falls silent trying to find the right words to describe her emotions.

"Yes," she admitted softly.

"I knew it!" Kerberos pounded the snow with his paw, "You must not let emotions freeze your judgement. Be strong, listen not to your heart but your mind. Flower... Sakura, there is more at stake then your heart. What you have spent your whole life walking towards... the world is at stake here."

Sakura stared down at the ground lost in thought, Kerberos fell silent and relaxed thinking he had finally got through to her. She slowly looked up at him, determination blazing in her eyes.

"Then let it burn."

* * *

Psuedo-Sakura smiled wickedly as she leant down and whispered in Sakura's ears. 

"Why is it everybody you love gets hurt?" she asked, murmured softly.

She threw Sakura down into the snow.

"Your mom, your dear old dead brother," Psuedo-Sakura smirked at Sakura's shocked face, "Oh yes I know about him. Then there's your dad, Zachary, Chelsea and now him. Face it, you kill everyone you love."

Sakura glared up at her twin as Psuedo-Sakura smiled venomously at her.

"Well, this is pathetic," she taunted, "Look at you. Just a pathetic little girl, your family gone, your friends gone, no magic, no weapons, nothing. You have nothing left to fight with."

Psuedo-Sakura lashed out with her right foot.

Sakura grabbed it, inches from her face.

"There's still me," Sakura whispered.

She dumped Psuedo-Sakura down into the snow.

"And sometimes that's enough."

"That was a nice trick but your boy is still going to die," Psuedo-Sakura smiled up at Sakura's furious face.

"Get out of my face," Sakura snarled.

Psuedo-Sakura's grin grew wider and she disappeared in a flash of light. She instantly reappeared at Xiaolang's side.

"Gladly," she grabbed Xiaolang's arm, "Ta ta for now!"

* * *

"So you tricked me," Psuedo-Sakura smirked at her, "But even if you beat me. It ain't over. You still got the big bad Void to beat." 

"We'll beat her," Sakura snapped.

"Then what," Psuedo-Sakura laughed at her, "Oh god, you don't know do you. Either way you're going to lose your boy."

Sakura stared at her.

"You'll die or you'll lose him," Psuedo-Sakura whispered venomously, "Don't you know the curse?"

"Enough!" Yue thundered, "You have meddled for the last time."

"You sound so shocked," Psuedo-Sakura laughed, "I am what you created me to be. I can't change, that is my curse and yours. You're doomed to be forever cryptic, cold and never tell secrets to the chosen three. Secrets like the curse of the Void card."

"What curse?" Sakura asked fiercely.

* * *

"Source of light with ancient spin, send forth the magic power within, oracles of gold, wood, fire, earth, clouds, wind, rain, and electricity... force, know my plight; release the light," a weak voice chanted from behind them. 

Psuedo-Sakura was jerked roughly away from Sakura.

"What the?" the doppelganger gasped as she was roughly pushed against the wall.

"Stay away from her," Xiaolang was almost about to fall over, he was shaking that bad, but his amber eyes blazed with an inner strength.

He ran Psuedo-Sakura through with the sword he had conjured into his hand pinning her down onto the ice wall.

"The tri-sword," Yue whispered seeing the blade.

"Huh?"

* * *

"The only way to heal. The only way is to give it up, give up everything he gave you, and try to deal with your memories because you know you can never forget them. Give up everything you shared because somehow it'll weaken the memory of the betrayal. It takes time but just accepting that it's over and never was is the first step." 

The Snow Geisha was crying weakly.

"He said he loved me."

"He said that to me too," Tomoyo whispered trapped in her memory of Eriol.

"The key to healing is to give everything up?" the Snow Geisha asked gently with all the vulnerability of a child.

"If the memory it conjures is too powerful and poisonous. Yes."

"Then take this," the Snow Geisha held out her hand, an orb of silver floated there several inches above her palm, "He gave this to me as a token of our love. If I keep this, it'll just eat at me making me remember for eternity about the pain and anger I feel now."

* * *

The book of Yue Gong Jian Shou. 

It was finally hers.

"I'm sorry," Tomoyo whispered, a world of sadness in her voice.

"I am too," the Snow Geisha murmured.

"It'll take time but someday you'll be able to lessen the pain."

The Snow Geisha bowed her head.

"You're not a mortal," she whispered, "You're a goddess."

* * *

"Dragon!" Sakura gasped, "That's the dragon that attacked Xiaolang!" 

"Why him?" Yue demanded, "A dragon would never come here."

They backed hurriedly away from the window as the dragon slammed into the palace shaking it to its very foundation as it tried to squeeze its snout through the tiny window. It gave up and backed away a little ready to charge again.

"Unless it was sent," Sakura gasped, "What if it is from Noir, what if he is after the tri-sword? Xiaolang had it with him all along that why it came after him."

"Noir's after the tri-sword," Yue cursed, "He's trying to resurrect the Void."

* * *

"The third book is in the possession of the Fox. My creation is no longer needed. She is done." 

"NOOOO!" Psuedo-Sakura yelled, "DAMN IT! NO!"

She thrashed against something only she could see but it was inevitable. White light consumed her body and with a brilliant flash she disappeared, once and for all.

"So she's taken care off," Sakura smiled wickedly.

* * *

"There is a curse," he admitted. 

"What does it do?"

Yue stared at her sadly.

"The curse of the Void card is the ones who seal it will be forced to lose everyone they love."

"Huh?"

"If you seal the Void card away and save the world, all the people who love you will lose their love for you. They will turn away from you, even shun you. Everybody," Yue paused "If you win. You'll lose everyone you care about. You will be forced to live in this world alone... unloved."

Sakura stared at him.

"Oh."

* * *

"Sakura!" Meiling cried with relief as she saw her friend walk slowly down the icy flight of stairs nearby, supporting Xiaolang gently. 

Sakura smiled at them tiredly as she wrapped her arms tighter against Xiaolang, the man still deep within the grips of unconsciousness.

"Oh god, Xiaolang," Tomoyo gasped seeing the man.

Ruby Moon's red eyes were fixed on something else, the sword that Yue carried in his hands, which he held with a cautious air.

"Is that..." she began slowly.

Yue nodded gravely.

Kerberos gasped.

"Oh god."

"What?" Nivaline looked at the guardians, confused, "What is it."

"A part of the tri-sword," Kerberos muttered.

"The what now?" Nivaline demanded.

"Oh my..." Ruby Moon was gaping at the seemingly innocent blade, "Oh my..."

"Huh?" Meiling, Kiyone and Tomoyo were horribly confused.

Sakura shrugged.

"Some blade of darkness and/or death. It's vague," she explained.

"Right..." Meiling frowned, still not getting the guardian's shock.

Sakura ignored them as she looked at Xiaolang worriedly.

"We need to get Xiaolang out of here. Like now."

"Try your magic," Kerberos growled.

"The hampering spells..." Sakura began.

The Snow Geisha looked up from her spot on the ground, a look of sadness still settling over her face.

"Gone," she whispered.

Sakura was startled to see the Snow Geisha there standing so close to the others without them being alarmed but she shrugged it off having bigger things to worry about.

She grabbed the key from around her neck.

"Key of stars with powers burning bright, reveal the staff and shine your light! RELEASE!" Sakura cried.

The Star wand quickly formed and fell into her hands; Sakura juggled the wand around until she could free one of her hands and shove it into the folds of her jacket pulling out a card.

"MOVE CARD! Take us to nearest hospital! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Sakura commanded.

Pink wings whirled around the two, sprinkling bright dust over them with each flutter of its eyes. With a burst of light, Sakura and Xiaolang disappeared.

"How come I can't teleport?" Meiling wondered aloud.

"You can control the forces of nature and you're complaining?" Ruby Moon wanted to know with an arched eyebrow.

"What can I do?" Tomoyo asked curiously, "What with the book now and everything."

She held up the blue and silver book as Yue's eyes lit up with delight, the first real emotion they had ever seen from him.

"Control the realms of spirits, shadows and dreams," Yue informed her.

"Nifty," Tomoyo chirped.

"Please!" the Snow Geisha suddenly reared up to her full imposing height.

Everyone stared at her.

"Please leave me," the goddess said in a soft whisper.

Tomoyo nodded at her understanding, she managed to send a subtle yet meaningfully glare at Yue.

Yue gulped.

"I'm sorry," Yue whispered softly.

"Are you?" the Snow Geisha asked gently, "Please, your presence hurts me. Leave."

Meiling, Kiyone and Nivaline nodded and quickly left not wanting to be around if the snow goddess decided to attack them. The three guardians soon followed but Tomoyo lingered for a little while.

Human and goddess exchanged last sad glance before Tomoyo turned around and left with her friends leaving a grieving Snow Geisha behind.

"You won?" Ruby Moon asked as they walked across the snowy clearing.

They skirted around the icy remains of the black dragon wincing at the sight and hurried their step as they neared the ice-beast but the creature seemed indifferent to them letting them pass with no trouble.

"Kinda of," Meiling replied.

"What do you mean?" Ruby Moon asked curiously.

"Snow Geisha was kinda kicking our ass big time until Tomoyo came along and pulled a Dr. Phil on her," Kiyone explained.

"What?" Yue asked startled.

"No, she didn't," Nivaline chided, "it was more of an Oprah."

"Okay I'm really confused," Kerberos frowned.

"So am I," Yue agreed.

Ruby Moon sighed and rolled her eyes.

"It's pop culture boys. Get a T.V. in that mystical lake land of yours. Jeez some people..."

Kerberos and Yue glared at her as the humans laughed. Tomoyo smiled sadly.

"Sometime understanding and words are powerful weapons," she said softly.

There was a silence as everybody contemplated that.

"So, " Kiyone began breaking the silence, "Which and where the hell is the closest hospital?"

* * *

Sakura instantly jumped out from her sit on the hard moulded plastic chair that seemed to be a staple of all hospital waiting rooms, frowning worriedly as the doctor who had been looking after Xiaolang walked in. He looked around and spotted her quickly making his way to her. 

"How is he?" Sakura asked in Japanese.

"We stabilised him," the doctor replied, "He should recover just fine. We're now moving him from the critical ward to a normal ward. You should be able to see him soon."

"Thanks," Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.

"My pleasure," the doctor gave her a short bow before exiting the room leaving Sakura standing here, a relieved look on her face.

"Sakura!"

The American Angel whirled around and beamed as she spotted her two fellow Angels walking in via the second entrance, Nivaline and Kiyone closely following.

"Guys!" she called.

They ran over to her, identical worried expressions on their faces.

"Where are the guardians?" Sakura asked looking around for them.

Kiyone made some weird gesture with her hands.

"Somewhere," she said blithely shrugging, "A lion and two people with wings are a tad conspicuous."

"They said they'll come back later," Nivaline added.

Tomoyo nodded, scraping her messy hair away from her forehead. The glint of fluorescent light on silver caught Sakura's attention, her eyes drew to something wrapped around Tomoyo's ring finger.

"What?' she yelped, "Where did you..."

Tomoyo laughed as she held out her hands allowing Sakura to examine the ring. It was a broad band of pure silver that glowed with an internal light; a flawless diamond was perched on top winking with all the colours of the rainbow and possibly more.

"This is the mirror," Tomoyo explained with a wink.

"Huh?" Sakura was confused.

"The sword and the star wand has their own hidden forms," Tomoyo explained, "Well, this is the mirror's form... a ring."

"With a big hunkin' gem on top," Kiyone added, a greedy glint in her eyes.

"Back off, you vulture," Nivaline warned.

Kiyone clapped a hand to her heart.

"You sting me with your wild accusations," she moaned with mock hurt.

"How is he?" Meiling asked worriedly.

Sakura smiled at her.

"He's going to be fine."

"Can we see him?" Tomoyo asked.

"Not yet," Sakura told her, a note of frustration entering her voice, "They're going to transfer him to a normal ward soon. So we can see him then."

They fell silent, Sakura struggling internally with something. With an inward sigh, she plunged into it, head-on.

"Okay, I really don't want to be the bringer of bad news but..." Sakura trailed off not sure what she should say next.

"What?" Meiling stared at her worriedly, "Something wrong?"

"Kinda..." Sakura was still struggling for the right words.

"What is it?" Kiyone pressed, a concerned look on her face.

Sakura sighed and realised she just had to give it to them straight.

"There's a curse."

"A la Tutankhamen?"

Everyone stared at her.

"What?" Meiling asked annoyed, "I read."

"Elaborate, please?" Tomoyo urged getting back to the issue at hand.

Sakura fidgeted nervously before continuing.

"If the Void card is sealed by us, we lose everyone we love," Sakura recited.

Everyone stared at her.

"Huh?" Meiling demanded.

Sakura braced herself.

"They lose their ability to love us."

"What?" Tomoyo yelped.

"Everyone: Marcus, my dad, even you two," she glanced at Nivaline and Kiyone.

"Us?" Kiyone muttered incredulously.

"No way!" Nivaline protested adamantly, "That's never going to happen."

"Who told you this?" Meiling cried.

"Psuedo-Me," Sakura whispered.

Kiyone snorted.

"Oh yeah, let's believe the mystical evil bitch," she muttered.

"Sakura, she's probably lying," Tomoyo assured her.

Sakura stared up at them.

"Yue confirmed it."

They all stared back at her, stunned.

"Oh..."

"My reaction exactly," Sakura whispered.

"But..." Tomoyo trailed off, "There's got to be a loophole or a mistake... or..."

Meiling was silent.

"But it's going to be okay," Nivaline said firmly, "We'll research it and we'll figure out how to break it or prevent it."

"If it's possible," Meiling murmured.

"It is," Kiyone snapped, "Nothing not even magic can make us stop caring about you girls."

They all fell silent again; lost in their own depressing thoughts as the Angels tried to imagine what their life would be like if the curse actually came into effect. It wasn't a pretty picture.

"Excuse me," a nurse appeared beside them smiling apologetically.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"You are allowed to see you friend again," the nurse informed them.

Sakura turned to the others.

"Can I?"

"Go," Nivaline whispered.

Sakura smiled gratefully at them and went along with the nurse, alone, leaving the others behind.

"We need to get back to the U.S.," Meiling said suddenly, "Talk to Syaoran."

"I'll dig up some of sources," Nivaline promised, "See if I can find anything about this curse."

They all nodded with false confidence, secretly all of them knew that all this effort was useless. The Void card's magic was too powerful for them to prevent but they had to do something. If they were going down to this curse they were going down fighting all the way.

"So," Tomoyo glanced at them, "Who tells Sakura?"

* * *

Sakura walked quietly towards Xiaolang's bed, the drawn curtains and the silent atmosphere of the room slightly disconcerting. She treaded lightly, not making a single sound her emerald eyes worriedly studying the pale man lying seemingly unconscious on the sterile hospital bed. 

"Hey," he said suddenly, softly his eyes fluttering open.

His amber eyes were no longer clouded with pain, a little paler than usual yes but more lively than they had been up in the snow.

"You're supposed to be resting," Sakura reproved lightly.

Xiaolang shrugged weakly, his slightly movements disturbing the starched sheets.

"Wanted to see if you were okay."

"Me?" Sakura stared at him, "You were the one that was dying."

"You were being strangled," Xiaolang reminded her.

"And you saved me," Sakura remembered, "Which by the way thanks."

Xiaolang smiled at her.

"Your welcome."

Sakura was standing over Xiaolang's bed looking down at him but found the angle a bit disconcerting so she reached behind her yanking a nearby chair closer before seating down trying to make herself as comfortable as possible in the hard plastic and metal chair.

Sakura pursed her lips unsure of what to say next.

"You know your sword..." she began gingerly.

Xiaolang frowned at her.

"Where is it?" he asked concerned.

Sakura stared at him.

"I don't know," she replied feebly.

The man looked crestfallen, the cute look on his face forcing a giggle out of Sakura.

"Sorry," she chuckled at his injured look.

The amused look faded away replaced by a deadly serious one.

"Do you know what your sword is?" she asked.

Xiaolang frowned at her, confusion written all over his face.

"A family heirloom that I've had with me for years. It's magical and kinda like the talismans, it can conceal its true form... it helps me focus my magic," Xiaolang stared at her, "But I'm guessing there's more."

"A lot more," Sakura muttered dryly.

Spotting Xiaolang's confused look, Sakura recomposed herself.

"You sword is the tri-sword," she paused remembering Kerberos's words, "Or part of the tri-sword... I'm not really..."

"The tri-sword?" Xiaolang murmured, "It sounds familiar..."

"Apparently, the tri-sword is needed to help revive the Void," Sakura grimaced, "So congrats! Your sword is going to help bring down the apocalypse on this poor world and send it to hell."

Seeing Xiaolang's look, Sakura trailed off.

"The tri-sword," Xiaolang whispered, his amber eyes widened in recognition, "OH!"

"Oh, what?" Sakura asked not liking the shocked look on Xiaolang's face.

"I've read something about it... the blade of three," Xiaolang closed his eyes, scrunching up his face in concentration as he tried to remember, "It's a weapon that can be broken down into three component. Each one is named after an element: Shui, Feng and Tu.."

"Water, wind and earth?" Sakura translated.

Xiaolang nodded.

"It was forged by Clow Reed, three powerful weapons that once combined a godly blade would be created. This blade possessed powers beyond comprehension," Xiaolang frowned, "I remember the book I read then sort of went vague and cryptic... something about Clow Reed cutting himself on this blade and using the resulting blood to bind the wrathful spirit into a prison..."

"The Void card and the book of Heilang," Sakura whispered remembering her time in the limbo and the glimpses of the fourth book she had seen, "Why with the blood and cutting? That's kinda Mariah Carey-ish."

"Blood is powerful. It is the substance that gives and maintains life. The blood of a mage is even more endowed," Xiaolang recited as though repeating a well-learnt lesson, "It is an elixir."

"And you became all Lestat and Interview with a Vampire, when?" Sakura asked teasingly.

Xiaolang shot her a look.

"It's a simple magical fact," he defended.

"With a big ew attached."

Xiaolang smiled at her.

"For someone who was battling snow goddesses and god knows what else, you're very squeamish and school-girlish," he teased.

Sakura glared at him.

"First part, hey! Second part, sexist and hey!" Sakura shot back, "I'm complex with many, many layers with more layers on top of that... I'm a layer-fest."

She paused.

"And that came out slightly wrong."

"Oh, yeah," Xiaolang agreed.

They fell into a comfortable silence until Xiaolang spoke up again.

"When I was... injured and delirious I was mostly out of it but I came to then and again and I swore..." Xiaolang trailed off.

Sakura stared at her strangely, wondering what he was about to say.

"I swore you and someone..."

"Kerberos or Yue, probably," Sakura supplied.

"You and someone..." Xiaolang tried again, "Arguing and you admitted..."

Sakura's eyes widened as she realised what he was getting at.

"Oh," she stammered, "That..."

"You loved me," Xiaolang looked at her hopefully, "Was I delirious or... or..."

"I said it," Sakura admitted.

They stared at each other after that little confession, Xiaolang with a soft smile on his face whilst Sakura seemed saddened.

"You know the traditional thing is to kiss now," Xiaolang suggested.

"With an opera playing in the background?" Sakura asked dryly.

"Or alternatively some sappy country music," Xiaolang stared at Sakura, "So?"

"I meant what I said..." Sakura began hesitantly.

Xiaolang looked sadly at her, understanding what she was getting at.

"But?"

"Now's not the time to admit it," Sakura sighed, "It's not that simple."

"Sakura, our relationship has never been simple," Xiaolang reminded her, "We admitted our feelings for each other on top of a snowy hell mountain whilst I was dying."

Sakura pursed her lips.

"It's just that..." she stopped and began hesitantly again, "Our feelings may not be as permanent as we think or want it to be."

"My is pretty permanent. In fact super-glued."

"There's a curse," Sakura admitted.

Xiaolang stared at her.

"I've got to say that's a very original line for rejecting me," he confessed.

"I'm not rejecting you," Sakura fidgeted, "There's a curse on the Void card. If we and I mean me and Tomoyo and Meiling seal the card, all emotional ties people have to us gets erased."

"What? You're losing me," Xiaolang frowned, "Curse?"

"Cliff notes?" Sakura asked, Xiaolang nodded, "We save the world and everyone who loves us loses their love for us. In other words, we lose everyone we love because they can't love us."

"Are you su..."

"Yue told me."

"Oh."

Xiaolang stared at her, a millions thoughts and emotions running through his mind although his face gave nothing of his inner turmoil away.

"Shouldn't we admit our feelings now? I mean, this maybe our first, last and only chance," Xiaolang was still reeling for the shock and his stammering speech betrayed that.

"It is our first, last and only chance and that's why we can't," Sakura took a deep breath, "If we do it now... I don't think I can go on afterwards remembering what we lost. Better to ask myself what could've happened than torturing myself with memories..."

She smiled at his sadly.

"I'm sorry."

Xiaolang nodded, determination blazing in his eyes.

"I will never give you up," he said roughly, strong emotions empowering each word.

"You don't have a choice," Sakura smiled sadly, "But I won't give you up either."

She slowly got up.

"So, I guess... this is goodbye," Sakura whispered.

"For now," Xiaolang promised strongly

She sent him a final sorrowful smile before leaving the room. She managed to keep her emotions in check until she got out of the room and closed the door behind her. After that draining effort, she finally couldn't hold it in anymore leaning against the wall for strength as she began crying brokenly.

And inside his room, Xiaolang heard every heartbreaking second of it.

* * *

Nivaline and Kiyone exchanged worried glances; on the quiet flight home the three girls had been withdrawn. Sakura and Meiling seemed to be the most affected, red eyes betraying the tears Sakura had shed. The normally loud Meiling had been subdued no doubt distraught over the idea of losing Marcus and Lily. 

Tomoyo much better skilled in hiding her emotions than the other seemed on the outside less affected but little slips like a slight tremble in her voice and small periods of inattention betrayed her true state. She was just as worried at her two fellow allies and Angels.

Just before they had left for the airport, the guardians had returned again casting a few discreet spells to avoid detection they had delivered the sword back to them giving them dire warnings about the consequences about not protecting it properly and if it fell into the wrong hands...

When Tomoyo had demanded why they couldn't guard it, they had told her if they kept it in the limbo its power would warp very structure of the strange in-between world causing unforeseeable consequences and damage. Everyone got confused at the part when Yue explained it in great detail what the warping affect would be with the air of a college professor but Ruby Moon stepped in giving them the condensed heavy-with-the-Star-Trek-and-Star-Wars-references-and-analogy version.

Finally it had been Nivaline who had taken the sword to Xiaolang who after some explanation and repeated confirmations of 'no, Sakura doesn't want to see you' had transformed the piece of the tri-sword into its hidden form. Smiling her thanks, Nivaline had returned to the others handing the transformed tri-sword to Meiling who had tucked it into her jacket.

And then they were off catching a last minute flight back to L.A. leaving Xiaolang behind who had assured them he would be fine.

Just before they left, he told them Syaoran was unreachable right now. The reason, he refused to say or didn't know but the Angels had pushed it out of their minds, more dire matters playing havoc with their thoughts.

Nivaline and Kiyone had done their best to snap them out of it but the girls had remained moody remaining silent throughout the whole plane trip eating and drinking little. The small periods of time they were able to fall asleep was fitful and full of feverish fretting and murmured words.

To say they looked like hell when they finally stepped out of the plane and into Los Angeles airport would've been an understatement.

Lack of sleep made Sakura and Meiling grumpy, everyone knowing full well to stay out of their way until a good litre of caffeine had hit their system. Tomoyo seemed cooled and composed in comparison but her ice queen impersonation was a bit off putting to say the least.

"So what now?" Nivaline asked diplomatically.

"We research," Sakura muttered with a sigh of exasperation, "And try to find out everything about this curse."

"Yue seemed pretty adamant there was no way around it," Tomoyo added gently.

"Which kinda raises the question who he knew," Meiling joined in, "I mean..."

The girls stared at each other.

"Clow Reed," Sakura whispered, "He must've..."

"Been hit by the curse," Kiyone shivered, "If a man that powerful couldn't avoid it..."

"What chance do we have?" Meiling sounded broken and forlorn.

"There's got to be a way," Nivaline protested, "Remember Clow Reed didn't know about the curse until it hit him so he couldn't have avoided something he didn't know. You girls know and have a chance to beat it."

"How come the guardians still seem to..." Kiyone searched around for the best words to use, "Have feelings for him?"

"They were created after the Void was sealed. The curse had already taken affect," Sakura explained remembering her lesson in the limbo.

"So, you're saying these emotions can be replaced," Nivaline sounded excited, "Loophole number one."

"New emotions can be forged, the old ones are probably eradicated," Tomoyo paused, considering what she was saying, "Forever."

A depressed silence fell over the group as they passed through customs soon they were entering the rest of the airport full of bustling by-passers and families welcoming and farewelling loved ones.

"So what now?" Kiyone asked casually hefting her bag onto her shoulder, "Where do we start researching?"

"We're not," Sakura said quietly.

"Why not?"

"Because there's no point," Sakura looked up at them, sadness dulling her emerald eyes, "The curse is unstoppable."

"I refuse to believe that," Nivaline snapped.

"But we have to believe it and accept it," Tomoyo bit her lip, "There's no other option."

"No, come on Meiling, you're a fighter! You know we can beat this thing!" Kiyone looked wildly at Meiling.

The Asian Angel shrugged.

"I don't know what to do," she admitted softly, "If there is something we can do."

"I don't believe this!" Kiyone growled, "You're just going to give up?"

"No, I think we should concentrate our effort in stopping Noir from reviving the Void card," Meiling snapped back, "Keeping Xiaolang's part of the tri-sword safe for example."

"Thanks," a rough voice said from behind them.

The group whirled around and stared straight into a pair of ebony black eyes that crackled with power.

"Thanks for safekeeping it for me," the man continued, his voice low and inhumanly guttural.

Sakura stared into his cruel face, a spark of recognition throwing her mind into chaos.

"Oh my god..." she whispered taking a step backwards in fright.

"Sakura?" Meiling asked grabbing her, steadying her.

"It's Heilang."

* * *

In the strange lake and mountain realm of Yue, the moon angel, all three guardians suddenly snapped to attention. 

"What the?" Kerberos growled, his hackles rising from the dark power humming through the air.

Yue closed his eyes and concentrated, skeins of silver light breaking free from his body. Suddenly his eyes snapped open.

"We need to go. Now," Yue growled.

'Why?" Ruby Moon asked curiously.

"He's back."

Ruby Moon and Kerberos stared at him.

"You mean?" Ruby Moon began turning pale.

Yue nodded sharply.

"Shit."

That didn't even begin to describe the situation.

* * *

"It's Heilang." 

"Who?"

"What?"

"Huh?"

Tomoyo frowned, trying to remember where she had heard the name before. Then she remembered and several microseconds later she wished she hadn't.

"The guy that created the Void card?" she asked, her voice just a ghost of a whisper.

Sakura nodded weakly, fear shining in her eyes as she stared at Heilang who stood calmly before them a small sadistic smile on his face.

"Shit," Meiling murmured, stunned beyond words, "How?"

It was Heilang that answered.

"Don't you Angels..." he spat out the name, "Know? Life's one big cycle, those who die..."

"Are reborn," Nivaline finished faintly.

"Very good, Elder," Heilang leered at her, "So how was that coma? Relaxing?"

Nivaline remained silent choosing to eye the man carefully.

"Enough of the feeble chit-chat," Heilang continued ignoring their calculating eyes, "I've come here for the tri-sword. You either give it to me or I'll be wresting if from your cold mangled blood-drenched bodies."

A lethal silence fell over the group as Heilang continued to smirk at them, all around them innocent bystanders walked past scuttling towards their chosen destination blissfully unaware of the deadly danger that walked amongst them.

"What will it be?" Heilang asked after a short while of staring at each other.

"I think I speak for the whole group when I say..." Nivaline began defiantly, "Go to hell!"

Before the man could react Nivaline hurled a ball of fire at him. Screams could be heard as the passer-bys all around them ran away from the confrontation creating a rough ring between the two combatants. The Angels and Kiyone watched fearfully as Nivaline unleashed another fire attack at the man.

"You stupid witch!" Heilang howled over the roar of the flames.

With a casual swipe of his hands the magical fire died out, Nivaline backed away carefully fear entering her eyes.

"You think your pathetic dabbling can hurt me?" Heilang snarled, "FRIGERE!"

A blanket of liquid black fire jetted out from the man's outstretched hands lashed at Nivaline, the Elder hurriedly summoned a protective barrier that deflected the dark flames away.

"Ohh, I was hoping you would fight," Heilang snarled, "I've always wanted to try my power against the chosen three."

Tomoyo glared at him.

"Try this," she snapped.

She yanked her ring from around her finger and held it aloft, light refracting off its glassy surface.

"Source of light with ancient spin,  
Send forth the magic power within,  
Forces of darkness hear my plight

Mirror appear and send forth the light!"

Tomoyo concentrated as the gem began shining brilliantly.

"RELEASE!"

The mirror fell neatly into her hands and without further ado Tomoyo aimed it at Heilang and concentrated. A beam of pale energy gathered and shot forwards slamming into the man. With a blaze of bright light it sent him flying backwards. He crashed into a row of chairs landing in a shower of twisted plastic and metal.

A strange silence descended onto the room as the Angels stared at the wreckage waiting for the next attack.

They weren't disappointed.

His whole body covered with crackling black energy, Heilang rose from the wreckage his eyes now two soulless black discs. His feet dangled in the air as he levitated himself up until he towered over each of them.

"Ouch," he said calmly.

"Key of stars with powers burning bright! Reveal the staff and shine your light! Release!"

"Blade of Clow, power of magic, power of light! Surrender the sword, the force ignite! Release!"

Sakura and Meiling gripped their weapons and walked forwards flanking Tomoyo raising their two talismans until both of them were pointed at the floating Heilang who looked on disinterestedly.

"Oh goody," he smirked wickedly, "All the girls ready to play tea party... FRIGERE!"

Twin streams of black fire gushed at them flying forwards with the force of a shrieking tornado but the girls held firm.

"SHIELD CARD! PROTECT US! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Sakura cried.

A dome of blue energy enveloped their group as the magic shot towards them. It collided with the barrier with the strength of a bomb; it hammered again and again at the shield as Sakura concentrated trying to force the dark fire away.

"WOOD CARD!" Meiling cried from within the dome, "BIND HEILANG! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

The neatly tiled floor burst outwards as a veritable jungle of vines latched onto Heilang's arms and legs trying in vain to drag him down from the ground. In the precious seconds he was distracted, Sakura dissolved the shield and the girls scattered.

"MOVE CARD! GET THE CIVILIANS OUT OF HERE! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

The innocent onlookers were swept away just in time as Heilang burnt the vines away from his body and steadied himself again in the air.

"Clow cards! To me!" Tomoyo cried.

In the secret place where the Angels had stashed away the three books, the book of Yue Gong Jian Shou snapped open, glowing rectangular objects burst free. They sailed through the air passing through solid objects like glowing spectres as they shot towards their destination: their mistress. Tomoyo reached outwards and smiled, the cards landing neatly in her hands. She looked down and summoned the first card she could see.

"FRIGERE!" Heilang barked trying to fry them again.

"ERASE CARD! STOP THE ATTACKS! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Tomoyo cried.

She threw the card in front of her and raised the mirror; a beam of pale energy struck the card's surface and the Clow spirit trapped within sprung forwards. A strange looking jester fellow emerged, it stared calmly at the twin columns of flames that arrowed towards it with deadly force before majestically sweeping the cloak it wore over the attack. The magical fire simply disappeared as everybody stared at the seemingly harmless card in shock.

"Whoa," Kiyone whispered breaking the silence.

"Cute," Heilang snarled, "But it won't help you."  
"I think this will," Meiling barked, "THUNDER CARD! FRY HIM! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"  
A roaring beast burst free from the card and shot huge bolts of electricity at Heilang. The man calmly held out his hands and everybody stared as the electricity leapt straight into his palm raging against his skin but not burning him.

"Uh oh," Meiling whispered.

He balled his hand up into a fist and extinguished the raging electricity without blinking all the time smirking at them. A thin trail of white smoke drifted up from his unmarred skin as he held them up for the girls to see.

"Oops," he smirked, "Was I supposed to be afraid?"

"Who the hell are you?" Kiyone spat.

"I have many names," Heilang taunted, "In this lifetime I am known as Okami Noir."

"What? What bloody country is that from?" Kiyone demanded.

"French and Japanese," Sakura murmured still staring stunned at the floating man, "Okami is Japanese for wolf and Noir is French for black."

"As you can see it's very appropriate," Heilang/Okami sneered.

Tomoyo gasped loudly.

"Noir?" she seemed to be hyperventilating in her shock, "Noir?"

"What?" Meiling asked trying to calm her down, "Tomoyo what's wrong?"

"Noir…" Sakura's eyes widened, "That's…"

"That's the name of the CEO of Spinnel Corporation…" Tomoyo finished, "Lilia's boss."

"Lovely girl, Lilia," Heilang pulled a face, "Terrible loss but then again that's not entirely my fault."

"Shut. Up," Sakura barked.

"Ooo… scary," Heilang held out his hands, "But enough of this… are you ready to fight me?"

"Bring it on," Sakura snapped.

"Gladly."

Before anyone could even move, a howling blast of magical energy shot towards Sakura. Grimly, the American Angel held up her star wand and prepared to meet the attack head on.

It struck her with a massive explosion.

The others let out cries of shock and horror as their eyes strained to see past the swirl of smoke, dust and debris that whipped around the impact zone trying in vain to spot their companion.

When the dust finally settled, everyone even Heilang gasped in shock.

Without a word being spoken between them all three guardians spread their wings and prepared to take flight.

"What happens if they're already…" Ruby Moon trailed off not needing to finish off the sentence nor having any inclination to.

"Then the world is doomed," Yue said crisply.

"But they're not," Kerberos barked, "We can sense if they are. And if we don't get them quick they may well be."

All three guardians nodded and took flight. Flying faster than anything natural could achieve they shot off arrowing upwards towards the perpetual starry night sky of Yue's realm as they flew tendrils of light shimmered from their bodies: red, silver and gold. As they flew up further and further and further, the light wreathed their forms creating three glowing nimbuses that glowed like polished gems in the night sky before finally with the brilliance of an exploding supernova they vanished leaving not even a trace of light behind.

The tranquillity of the hill bordered lake was a far cry from the chaos that reigned in the real world.

Everyone gaped at the scene that lay before them, Sakura stood amidst a giant crater gouged into the airport floor her eyes a pure gold and the energy attack that Heilang had flung at her was swirling around her in a crazy tornado of colour.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass," Sakura spat.

She pointed her wand at Heilang.

"Strike," she hissed.

The energy immediately reacted surging to the tip of her wand before exploding outwards crashing into Heilang like a rainbow tsunami. He fell to the ground, gasping in pain as crackling tendrils of energy wracked his body. He gave Sakura a venomous glare before slowly getting to his feet, the energy slowly dying away.

"Oooo… little bitch wants to play with the adults," Heilang snarled, "I can do that."

Suddenly his head snapped upwards as light wreathed his form forming a lustrous halo. The angelic image this presented was completely destroyed by the string of guttural words that burst from his twisted lips. Suddenly the light faded away as he lowered his head and grinned viciously at Sakura.

"Solidité," he hissed.

He exploded forwards a blur of black; Sakura could only blink stupidly at him as he seemingly appeared right in front of her face. With a wicked smirk, he punched her. It felt like getting hit by a truck. Sakura was sent flying through the air, only her impact with a nearby solid granite and concrete column broke her trajectory. Tomoyo, Meiling, Kiyone and Nivaline let out cries of horror as the column shattered dumping Sakura down onto the ground. She landed in a broken and twisted heap amongst the shattered stone and dusty debris.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo cried running to her friend.

She pressed a shaking hand to Sakura's neck and to her immense relief found a pulse, it was weak and fluttery but it was there. She glanced down at the rest of her friend's body and almost threw up seeing the odd angles of her arms and legs as well as the wet sound of her breathing that told Tomoyo that Sakura's ribs had probably been broken and her lungs had also been punctured by the devastating blow.

"She's alive," Tomoyo said shakily, "But just…"

"And soon she won't be at all," Heilang snarled, "Who's next?"

With a cry Kiyone leapt at him, she threw a wild left hook but Heilang calmly grabbed her arm.

"Hmmm… kitten's got claws," he taunted staring into Kiyone's shocked face.

With a casual flick of his wrist he tossed her into the air, he immediately launched into a powerful spin kick that connected with Kiyone's chest and sent her sailing through the air. She landed onto the ground skidding across the smooth surface of the ground before coming to a slamming halt at the foot of another column. She lay there, crumpled and broken.

"Two down," Heilang smirked, "Who's next?"

"Let me handle him," Meiling snapped, "Just make sure you don't get in my way."

"Oh goody," the dark mage sniggered, "Miss Little Likes-to-Fight, I'm going to enjoy pounding you into the ground."

Meiling ignored him.

"I know what you did," she challenged, "You cast a spell on yourself, to make yourself stronger…"

"Ding ding, give the girl a prize."

"But," Meiling smirked at him, "I can do exactly the same thing."

She held out her hands and two cards appeared in them. Calmly she held them up revealing their names to Heilang.

"Power and Fight card! Grant your strength unto me! Release and dispel!"

Pink and blue light blazed from the cards and seemed to seep into Meiling, when the light faded away the Asian Angel smirked and stomped towards Heilang. With each step she took, she stomped into the hard ground leaving behind a trail of mini-craters with each stamp. Tomoyo and Nivaline backed away hurriedly as Meiling confronted Heilang.

"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" Meiling smiled casually into Heilang's face.

She threw a punch at him that struck him in the face, he was sent flying backwards crashing into a nearby wall. The hard concrete shattered beneath his body as he fell to the ground gasping in pain.

"Not me," Meiling snapped rushing at him.

Heilang rose to his feet and met her head-on, a punch sent Meiling spinning around but the Angel steadied herself blocking his next strike. Gracefully she went into a semi-cartwheel, using her right hand to support her weight as she bent at the waist bringing her left foot over her head and kicking Heilang in the face. She completed the flip kicking Heilang again with her other foot before landing nimbly and backhanding across the face. He was sent flying through the air landing non too gently as Meiling stalked towards him, eyes blazing with bloodlust.

"Looks like Little Red Riding Hood is going Mike Tyson on your sorry ass," Meiling spat.

She rushed at Okami Noir but was dumped onto her back as he caught her with a leg-sweep. Before the man could take advantage of her fall, she snapped a whip-kick at his knees forcing him away. She flipped back up to her feet and grabbed the man tossing him behind her. He skidded across the slippery floor struggling to gain control as Meiling looked on calmly.

"You gonna pay for that," Heilang snapped from his position on the ground having finally stopped skidding, "I'm going to crush you and your pathetic friends."

"Please," Meiling snorted, "You can barely stand."

Heilang smiled wickedly at her, he magically levitated himself back up into a standing position and raised his hands up like a professional boxer.

"Sorry, wrong, try again," he challenged.

"Gladly."

They flew at each other grappling for dominance, Meiling's head snapped back as Heilang head-butted her. Taking advantage of her pain, he fired a quick one-two jab each punch crashing into her face. Grimacing with pain, Meiling grabbed his arm and pushed him away before leaping into a jumping spin kick that caught him in the chest. Okami recovered quickly and shot his leg out kicking the Angel out of the air, quick-fire snap kicks to her knees, chest then face sent Meiling stumbling backwards. He leapt at her in a flurry of kicks and punches but Meiling blocked his blows before grabbing him by the back of his neck and throwing him across the airport again. He crashed into a column, the stone structure crumbling to dust after the blow of the impact, Meiling charged at him swinging all the way. Heilang ducked, Meiling punching out a section of the already badly damaged column with her bare fist. She swung again but missed completely destroying the column this time, Heilang hit her with left hook then a right before grabbing her shoulder and began repeatedly rabbit-punching her in the face.

"Guess I'm the one that's pulling the Mike Tyson, huh?" Heilang drawled between blows.

Meiling laughed right in his face, her face not even bruised by his blows.

"Haven't you heard of the saying? Behind every great man," she calmly reached out and grabbed his fist, "There's a better woman behind him!"

She twisted Heilang's arm behind his back painfully before backhanding him. He sailed through the air crashing through the glass front of a nearby airport shop.

"Give up?"

"Not even close," Heilang spat getting up slowly, "FLY!"

The shards of glass that littered the ground around him rose up into the air and spun around until every sharp jagged edge was pointed at her. They inched back as though they were being loaded up into invisible slingshots before flying forwards, Meiling laughed and charged straight at the barrage of glassy missiles. She ploughed through the glittering daggers, her clothes getting torn in the process but she remained unharmed. Heilang waited for her as she charged straight at him at the last possible moment he nimbly sidestepped her, Meiling crashed through the broken shopfront and into the store as Heilang held up his hands and grinned viciously at her.

"FRIGERE!"

Twin streams of roaring black flames lashed the store, they tore through the walls and ceiling as the whole structure began shaking dangerously. Meiling looked up in shock, chunks of broken plaster and concrete beginning to rain down from the roof. With one last powerful blast, the whole shop gave way crashing down onto the hapless Angel. Heilang turned away from the deluge and smirked at Tomoyo and Nivaline.

"And I believe that makes three."

He took a dangerous step towards the remaining duo but before he could take another step further, the mountain of rubble behind him suddenly geysered upwards. Meiling stood amongst the debris like a wrathful goddess her ruby eyes blazing but rather then being shocked, Heilang merely turned around and smiled at her.

"But before I deal with you two," he tossed casually over his shoulder.

Meiling threw a punch at him but Heilang grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards him.

"I need a little pick me up."

He slapped his hand across Meiling's chest and began chanting, Meiling screamed in pain as tendrils of ruby energy began appeared all over her skin. Heilang opened his mouth and roared and every drop of energy that writhed over Meiling's skin flew into his mouth. He seemed to swallow it all and blinked once, closing his mouth and dropping Meiling down at the same time. The Angel fell to her knees, her eyes unfocused, her mouth closing and opening before she swayed before falling face first onto the ground. Heilang laughed, his voice rippling with power before turning around and glaring at Tomoyo and Nivaline, his eyes were now a bright ruby, the same colour as Meiling's.

Tomoyo and Nivaline gaped at him.

"Now we're ready to party."

* * *

Fujitaka awoke with a start and looked around his surroundings, sleep confusing his senses for a little while before he realised where he was. A safehouse in only God and Syaoran knew where. He frowned wondering what had jolted him awake, a nameless fear burnt in his chest as he gasped loudly knowing with horrible accuracy that something terrible had happened. 

"Sakura…"

* * *

Marcus blinked and seemed to momentarily forget what he was doing. Stupidly he stared at the key in his hands and wondered wildly what he was supposed to be doing right now. 

"Daddy?" Lily's voice from what seemed a far off distance brought him back to reality.

Marcus shook himself and looked up staring at the cosy suburban house that stood before him. Meiling's house… just before she had left she had given him the keys to it, shyly suggesting they get out of Tomoyo's way and move into her home. The man smiled softly remembering that special moment.

"Daddy?" Lily repeated concerned, louder this time.

"Sorry," Marcus said distractedly, frowning wondering what had unsettled him so just a few moments ago.

Then a terrible revelation came, he had only felt that way just once before… when his wife had been brutally murdered by Malus Harrason's crony and suddenly he was very, very afraid.

"Meiling."

* * *

"Stand behind me," Nivaline gritted preparing to attack Heilang. 

"But…" Tomoyo began.

"Do. It," Nivaline snapped.

"Please, attack me," Heilang sniggered smugly, "Give it your best shot Sabrina."

"DIAN!"

A bolt of lightning flew from the Elder's hand but Heilang merely gestured at the attack and it faded

"Nice try," he spat.

He held out his hand and clenched it into a fist glaring at Nivaline. The woman's eyes widened as she felt to her knees, coughing and choking violently. Her hands flew to her throat trying to pry away invisible fingers as Heilang continued his assault.

"Take this," he whispered.

He swiped the air with his hand and invisible claws seemed to slashed Nivaline's chest tearing three red bleeding lines. He did it again and another three lines appeared. With a triumphant howl of laughter, Heilang held out his arm and pointed at the choking woman. He clenched his hand into a fist and Nivaline let out a terrifying scream of pain, she clutched her bleeding chest gasping for breath as her whole body trembled violently. Finally she could stand no more, her eyes rolling into her head and she collapsed forwards her body gently twitching.

"And then there was one," Heilang whispered staring into Tomoyo's eyes.

Tomoyo glared at him and fired an energy beam at the man. Heilang laughed and a dome of black energy surrounded him, Tomoyo jumped in surprise as her attack hit the dome and bounced off transforming a tongue of black flame. She had to jump to the side to avoid the incoming inferno, once the danger passed she rolled to her feet.

This time she didn't even try to fire another beam at him.

"ILLUSION CARD! BIND AND CONFUSE HIM! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" she cried flinging the card outwards.

She summoned the Clow card as a hazy white smoke emerged from the mystical object. It immediately drifted towards Heilang twisting into something only the man could see but the dark mage merely sniggered and waved his hand dissolving the spirit.

"That's the best you can do?" Heilang barked, "Please, give me a challenge!"  
Tomoyo gritted her teeth and summoned two other cards.

"SHADOW CARD! DARK CARD! ATTACK HIM! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Tomoyo screamed.

An imposing woman dressed in black and wearing a glittering crown emerged, a cloaked and hooded figure appeared beside her. Both of them surged towards Heilang, syrupy shadow tentacles and crackling dark energy rearing up to strike him.

"Those?" Heilang laughed, "Their powers are grounded in darkness, like mine… that means I can control them like the mere puppets they are! HALT!"  
To Tomoyo's horror, both cards immediately froze bound by Heilang's powerful magic.

"ATTACK HER!" Heilang roared victoriously.

As the duel dark attacks raced at her, Tomoyo hurriedly summoned another card to stop them.

"TIME CARD! FREEZE THEM! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" she cried.

A wave of bright yellow and green energy blazed from the mirror and swept over the two rogue cards. They immediately froze in place allowing Tomoyo precious seconds of rest however Heilang didn't allow her even this meagre respite.

"I tire of this mismatched duel," Heilang sighed, "Time to finish this once and for all!"

He raised his hand and two swords fell into them.

"What the?" Tomoyo whispered.

"These two are two of the three pieces of the tri-sword," Heilang smirked, "This…"

He held one up.

"Is the sword of Shui and the other the sword of Feng," the dark mage held them aloft, "I need the sword of Tu but these swords on their own…"

He raised them over his head and tossing Tomoyo a final smirk brought them down smashing the tips into the ground. Immediately springing up from the impact site, a roaring tempest of wind and water rose.

"Do a hell of a lot of damage on their own," Heilang finished.

Before Tomoyo could react, the tempest lunged at her. It sucked her up into its watery embrace and tossed her around savagely smashing her against floor, wall and ceiling. Tomoyo screamed in pain only to suck in a burning lungful of stinging rain. Heilang laughed and gestured at the storm with his hand, an invisible force shoved Tomoyo free from the storm and sent her sailing through the air. She crashed into a wall, the back of her head hitting the concrete with enough force to send a dull roar through her skull as she crumpled to the ground. Through quickly blackening vision she could just make out the blurry shape of Heilang howling in delight.

"And now there is nothing standing in my way," the man crowed.

He turned to Meiling and everything seemed to move in slow motion.

"To me!" he cried.

A small object, which could only be the concealed form of the third piece of the tri-sword, the sword of Tu floated to him. Tomoyo struggled to get up but it was hopeless.

Heilang turned to her.

"And now to finish the job," he whispered venomously pointing at her.

Three points of light blazed through the airport as Heilang whirled around in shock. A burst of ruby crystal, a silver arrow and jet of flames caused the man to back-pedal away hurriedly.

"Damn you guardians!" Heilang hissed, "You can't protect them forever."

"But we're here now," Yue said coldly.

Heilang smiled at them coldly.

"Soon it'll be too late," he whispered, "The end is coming, I will summon the Void and then she's…"

He smiled mirthlessly, his grin filled with predatory glee and venom.

"She's going to swallow all of you whole."

With a final burst of laughter, he disappeared in a flurry of wind and dark smoke. Tomoyo could make out the shape of Yue slowly walked towards her.

"Fox, are you okay?"

"We're going to lose," she whispered brokenly.

Then she knew no more.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Location: Los Angeles_

_Year: 2002_

_Time: 9:01 PM_

It had been a crazy and hard mission but somehow, miraculously they had managed to pull it off… just.

"Let's never, ever do that again," Sakura moaned from her position on Tomoyo's couch.

The American Angel was sprawled over the cream coloured fabric, staring blearily up at the ceiling filling every new bruise on her body throbbing. Meiling who was comfortably curled up on one of Tomoyo's other couches agreed readily.

"How many people did we have to fight through the in the end?" she asked stifling a yawn.

"Too many," Sakura groaned.

"Oh calm down," Tomoyo smirked, "It wasn't that bad."

"Says the girl who was sitting in a van with a laptop hacking the system and not fighting," Meiling muttered.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes and walked over to her stereo system. Seeing one of her new CDs lying nearby, she picked it up.

"Hey guys, I just got this," she said holding it up, "You wanna listen to it?"

"Why not?" Meiling shrugged.

Tomoyo slipped the CD into the stereo and chose a track. Soon soft music drifted through the air charming the three Angels with its flowing melody, Tomoyo took a seat on another couch as all three of them listened intently.

"This is nice," Sakura whispered softly, "Who's the singer?"

"Can't remember," Tomoyo frowned too tired to even walk the few metres to where the CD case was lying, "Some Australian girl."

And then the singer began singing.

_'Are you swimming upstream in oceans of blue? _

_Do you feel like your sinking? _

_Are you sick of the rain after all you've been through? _

_Well I know what you're thinking _

_When you can't take it _

_You can make it _

_Sometime soon I know you'll see…'_

_End of Flashback

* * *

_

Sakura opened her eyes and moaned feeling the state of her battered body, struggling to sit up she gazed around stupidly.

"What happened?" she moaned looked around for a familiar face.

"We got our collective butts kicked by Heilang," a soft voice said glumly.

Sakura frowned in confusion and it took her a while to locate where the voice as coming from. Meiling was standing nearby leaning against a wall as she stared down at her friend who was lying on a soft bed.

"What happened?"

"Heilang thrashed all of us," Tomoyo appeared in her line of vision, "If it wasn't for the guardians coming and chasing him off we would've been killed."

"And if they hadn't tapped into the healing power of the key we would've died from our injuries," Meiling whispered, "Even with that, they had to spread the power quite thinly between us my body's still hurting like hell."

"Where are we?"

"Tomoyo's house."

A uncomfortable silence filled the room and Sakura had the sickening revelation that something else had happened. She glanced wildly between her friends but it was Tomoyo who finally dropped the bombshell.

"He took the final piece of the tri-sword… now he was everything need to resurrect the Void," she said softly.

"What?" Sakura looked at Meiling.

The Angel nodded sadly.

"What are we going to do?" Sakura demanded, "Do we even know where this resurrection is going to take place?"

"The guardians said there are several places that can be used and they wouldn't know which one until the ritual for the resurrection actually starts," Meiling sighed, "They say they can teleport us there once we know and we'll have to try to stop the ritual then."

"How much time do we have until then?"

"About 24 hours."

"So what do we do?"

"The guardians," Tomoyo stopped, "The guardians told us to say goodbye to our families."

* * *

Tomoyo wandered around her house, feeling alone and isolated but she knew that the others had to leave to deal with the news in their own way. She smiles sadly and wondered if it would be a good thing if somehow Heilang resurrected the Void and that they stopped him and sealed the card. And then if the curse did take place at least Eriol would… 

She stopped and chased any thoughts of the blue-haired man from her head. Now was not the time to think of him or his… betrayal. Holding back tears, she wandered aimlessly into her living room and turned on the stereo. Immediately a song began playing softly disturbing the still silent air that clung around her like a depressing cloak.

_'Cause when you're in your darkest hour…'_

Tomoyo smiled as she picked up a golden photo frame, slipped inside was a picture of the three Angels beaming at the camera in untainted joy. Tomoyo sighed sadly.

"Too bad there's not going to be any more of these."

* * *

_'And all of the light just fades away…'_

Meiling smiled softy as she opened her door and noticed Marcus who was sitting inside the living room, watching some kind of cartoon with his daughter perched securely on his lap.

"I'll be with you soon, I just need to make a call," she called.

She walked over to a cordless phone that was sitting on a small table in the hallway and picked it up. She stared at it, wondering if she should do it.

Taking a deep breath she began punching in a series of numbers. She waited patiently as it began ringing and then for someone to pick up, when someone finally did. Meiling took another breath to steady her nerves before opening her mouth.

"Hello?"

* * *

_'When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of grey…'_

Sakura stood inside her impartment biting her lip wondering what to do next. Her face hardened as she finally made up her mind.

"Key of stars with powers burning bright! Reveal the staff and shine your light! Release!" Sakura cried.

The star wand fell into her hands as Sakura immediately drew a card from seemingly nowhere and threw it casually onto the ground.

"Move card! Take me to my father! Release and dispel!"

She disappeared in a flash of white.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Location: Los Angeles_

_Year: 2002_

_Time: 9:03 PM_

_'Be strong…'_

"That's a lovely song," Sakura smiled gently.

"Shh… that was only the first verse!" Tomoyo warned.

"I like the lyrics," Meiling mused, "Be strong. That's what we'll always be right? Strong."

Sakura and Tomoyo nodded.

"Damn right."

"Strong like an Amazon."

Meiling laughed.

"You took that off an episode of Buffy!" she accused, half-snorting.

Sakura shrugged sending her a wicked grin.

"Hey, the second verse is starting!"

_End of Flashback_

_

* * *

'Where taking each step one day at a time…'_

Meiling heard a loud gasp on the other end.

'Meiling?'

"Yeah it's me," Meiling sighed.

'Why are you calling me?' 

"Look, I know we haven't talked since…" Meiling shrugged delicately, "Since the incident…"

_'Yeah, the incident,' _the other voice said dryly.

"Anyway I'm just calling to say you know… even though we can probably star on the Jerry Springer episode of 'Dysfunctional families who hate each other's guts'… I just want you to know… well…" Meiling took a deep breath, "I still love you and mom and dad and etc., etc., etc."

_'Are you on drugs?' _the other voice said suspiciously.

"Sis, bite me," Meiling drawled.

_'Is something wrong?' _Meiling's sister asked, genuinely concerned, _'You're not pulling a chick-flick terminal illness on us are you?'_

"No, I was just thinking," Meiling sighed, "I just wanted you guys to know… if you don't believe me well… at least I tried."

With that she hung up and carefully put the phone back into its cradle. She stared at it for a very long time, biting her lips, a small frown adoring her face until a sudden burst of loud music from the living room drew her attention back to the two of the most important people in her life… people she may soon lose.

_'You can't loose your spirit…'_

Taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself down, Meiling turned around and walked into the living room.

"Hey! Who wants pizza?"

* * *

Fujitaka jumped as his daughter seemed to miraculously just appear right in front of him. 

"Sakura!" Fujitaka let out a huge sigh of relief as he realised that his only daughter was fine, "I'm so glad to see you."

_'Let live and let live forget and forgive'_

"Dad," Sakura let herself be swept up in his hug as she tried to blink back tears.

This maybe the last time they would ever be like this together…

"Dad," Sakura repeated again, strong his time.

She took a step backwards and stared into her father's eyes.

"I want to know," she said gently, "About my mother…"

_'It's all how you see it'_

"And my brother…"

* * *

Tomoyo put the photo down and looked around calmly, making up her mind. She would do it. 

Carefully she wrested the ring away from her finger and held it up.

"Source of light with ancient spin, send forth the magic power within! Forces of darkness hear my plight! Mirror appear and send forth the light!" she cried, "Release!"

The mirror appeared into her hands as Tomoyo stared into its smooth surface, pondering once again. She took a deep breath, dove down into herself and summoned the courage. Opening her eyes, she plucked a card seemingly from air.

_'And just remember keep it together'_

"Dark card! Come to be release and dispel!" she cried.

A dark imposing queen crowned with a glittering tiara rose from the card and bowed before her.

"I am sorry about the incident in the airport," the spirit said almost apologetically, "His powers were too strong to resist."

"It doesn't matter," Tomoyo took a deep breath, "I'm wondering…"

And at that point Tomoyo almost lost her courage but she steeled herself knowing that this must be done.

_'Don't you know you're never alone'_

"Can you show me… show me what happened to Clow Reed after the curse took place."

* * *

"Why do you want to know?" Fujitaka asked gently, still trying to recover from his shock. 

"This maybe my last chance," Sakura whispered seeing her father's confused look, she shrugged, "It's just… on the mountains…"

Fujitaka frowned again.

"Oh right! You don't know…" Sakura sighed, "Long story… but anyway when I was up there someone told me something."

"What?"

"That I hurt everyone I love… you… mom… Chelsea…"

"Chelsea?" Fujitaka felt like he really was out of the loop.

"She's dead," Sakura said numbly.

"Oh god…"

Sakura pressed on.

"My brother… Zachary… Xiaolang."

Her father didn't miss the addition of Xiaolang in the list of people she loved and he couldn't help but hide a small smile. Sakura looked up at him despairingly.

"Do I hurt those I love?" she said unhappily, "Is there something about me?"  
"Sakura, you had nothing to do with your mother's death," Fujitaka told her gently.

"But my brother? Touya's?"

Her father fell silent and Sakura smiled with a sort of sad triumph.

"See?"

"What happened was nobody's fault."

'Was it?" Sakura demanded, "If I hadn't ran off to look at something and if I hadn't ran into those men and then none of it would've happened…"

Sakura trailed off.

"And Touya would still be alive."

"It was an accident… a mistake… everyone makes those," Fujitaka began.

"But dad," Sakura sighed, "My mistakes? They kill people. There must be something wrong with me… something inside me that keeps hurting the people around me… I'm afraid of myself and of what's to come."

"If Touya and your mother was still alive they would've smacked some sense into you by now," Fujitaka said with a small smile, "Cherry blossom, you're being silly."

Sakura looked up at her dad, surprised.

"Bad things happen because they happen… not just because you were around or something stupid like that. It's chance."

"With what I've seen… I don't think I believe that anymore."

"You know what I believe in?" Fujitaka asked suddenly.

Sakura looked at him.

"What?"

"You."

* * *

The Dark card stared at her, obviously bewildered. 

"Are you…" the card paused, an elegant look of worry appearing on her pale ivory face, "Sure?"

"Damn sure," Tomoyo said strongly.

"Well, I must warn you this ain't for kids. It's rated M for Mature Audiences and contains the angst from an entire season of the O.C…."

Tomoyo stared at the card strangely wondering where the heck an ancient magical card would learn about a hip teen T.V. show.

"I talk to Ruby Moon constantly," the Dark card said offhandedly.

"Right," Tomoyo muttered, "I need to know."

"It's disturbing…"

"Just do it," Tomoyo snapped.

"Nike, copyright infringement," the Dark card noted before sighing, "If you are sure… summon the Return card and get him to use the mirror as a focus…"

Tomoyo quickly found the card she needed.

"Return card! Focus your magic through the mirror! Release and dispel!" Tomoyo cried.

The mirror's surface glowed a brilliant yellow-green before the light faded away. Tomoyo studied the glass and noticed with some disappointment that it still looked the same and nothing was happening. Wondering if the Dark card was up to something, Tomoyo glanced up at it. The card was shaking her head.

"That's not enough," she informed her mistress, "Honestly."

She glided forwards and placed an immaculately manicured hand onto the glass surface.

"Show us what we wish to see," she commanded.

The mirror's surface rippled and began glowing brilliantly as Tomoyo peered at it trying to pierce the light and see what was underneath. As though it had heard her silent wish, the glowing died down and an image floated to the surface of glass.

Tomoyo gasped as she saw a haggard and tired face staring up at her.

"Is that?"

"Clow Reed?" the Dark card said, "It is."

Tomoyo continued to stare at the mirror as Clow Reed's life after the Void card unravelled before her very eyes.

* * *

"So what's on the menu today?" Marcus asked casually as Meiling hung up the phone again after making a call to the pizza shop. 

She gave him a cheeky smile before flopping down onto the sofa beside him.

"It's a surprise," she chirped winking at him.

Marcus shot her a curious look before sliding an arm around her, Meiling nuzzled into him smiling contentedly before switching her attention to Lily who was transfixed to the T.V.

"What's she watching?" Meiling asked frowning slightly.

"Bambi."

Meiling whirled around and stared at him.

"Bambi?" she demanded.

Marcus, a bit mystified with her response, nodded slowly.

"Have you seen it before?" Meiling shot at him.

Still utterly confused, Marcus shook his head again.

"How far?"

"Wha?"

"How far has she seen it to?"

Marcus shrugged and gestured at the T.V. screen.

"That far, I guess," Marcus said casually, "She's never seen it be…"

He was cut off abruptly as Meiling sailed across the room hitting the off switch on the T.V. in one fluid movement. Marcus and Lily stared at her as Meiling hit the stop button on the V.C.R stopping the movie.

"Mommy?" Lily was a bit shock but mainly curious.

"Lily, go into the kitchen I think there's some cookies in a jar there," Meiling said calmly as though she hadn't just assaulted the T.V.

Easily distracted by the thought of cookies, Lily jumped up excitedly and ran into the kitchen soon both adults hear the sounds of rummaging. Marcus continued to stare at Meiling.

"Care to explain?" he asked.

Meiling shot him a dirty look before stalking towards him.

"You've. Never. Seen. Bambi. Before?" she snarled, each word containing a world of threat and eternal pain in them.

"Huh?" Marcus was now beyond confused.

Meiling sighed, her anger seemingly magically disappearing.

"Men," she sighed rolling her eyes.

She whirled around and turned on the T.V. and V.C.R. again, grabbing the remote for both of the machines she sat down next to Marcus and shot a look at him that clearly said 'shut up and learn'. With that she fiddled with the remotes until she muted the T.V. and began fast forwarding the movie just as she got up to a certain section she stopped and played it normally.

Marcus watched and instantly realised what had got Meiling so upset, he cringed as he saw the death scene and was smart enough to realise that if Lily had seen it she would be crying for hours.

"How was I supposed to know?" he asked pleadingly shooting Meiling puppy dog looks.

This time Meiling was not folding.

"Idiot," she sighed throwing both remotes at him and walking off the kitchen.

The last thing Marcus heard before the kitchen door closed was Meiling's voice.

"Lily, always remember this… men are dummies."

And then the door closed.

* * *

Sakura stared at her father. 

"Was that a spontaneous burst of fatherly affection or some weird quote from lame-ass movie-of-the-week?"

Her father laughed and shook his head.

"I'm being honest."

"Huh?"

"Sakura, you're my daughter. To me you're perfect and I'll always love you…" Fujitaka stopped as his daughter flinched, "Cherry Blossom?"

"Perhaps your love isn't as permanent as you think," Sakura said ominously.

Her father was perplexed.

"Run that by me again?"

Sakura shrugged nervously.

"Okay, highly hypothetical question…" she began, Fujitaka continued to stare at her, "Hypothetical, theoretical, will never happen in a million years question."

She took a deep breath.

"If you got amnesia and forgot about me…" Sakura paused unsure how to phrase what she wanted to say, "Would you… would a part of you still… recognise me? Would a part of you still love me?"

Fujitaka stared at her.

"Are you on something?"

"What?" Sakura yelped.

She glared at her father.

"Dad!"

Fujitaka laughed.

"Sorry, sorry," he forced himself to be serious, "Even if I forgot about you through… 'amnesia'…"

He shot his daughter a strange look, which Sakura pointedly ignored.

"A part of me will always love you no matter what happens," he studied Sakura's face carefully, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Sakura gave a small nervous laugh before shrugging.

"You know… just a silly little question…" she trailed off fidgeting nervously.

They stood looking at each other awkwardly, a nervous silence filling the room, Sakura continued to fidget until she looked down at her watch and freaked.

"Oh god!" she cried, "Jeez!"

"What?" Fujitaka asked worriedly.

"I'm late," Sakura was beginning to panic.

After knowing she had only twenty-four hours left, Sakura had made a list of what she wanted to do before the final battle with the Void card. Seeing her father had been on top of that list but there were other things she really needed to do as well.

"Sorry dad about this but I really need to go," Sakura sighed, "I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry," Fujitaka smiled, "Just visit again sometime soon okay?"

Sakura nodded.

"Don't worry dad, I'm pretty sure you'll be able to leave soon. After we deal with the guys behind your kidnapping," Sakura moved forwards and grabbed her father into a hug, "I love you dad."

"Love you too, honey," Fujitaka whispered holding her tight.

Sakura gently untangled herself from the hug and shot her dad one last smile, trying to ignore the little voice in her heart that told her this might be the last time she would ever see her father like this. Trying to blink back tears, Sakura held up her wand and summoned the Clow cards.

"Move card! Take me to where I want to go!" she cried, "Release and dispel!"

As light claimed her body and her surroundings blurred and swirled in a crazy kaleidoscope of colour and movement, she could just make out her father's voice.

"Your mother and brother would be proud of you."

And then she was gone.

* * *

Tomoyo looked down into the mirror and the glass blazed. She looked around nervously as her surroundings begin to fade; walls and ceilings disappeared as a new world formed around her. 

"Where am I?" she whispered staring around.

A dark sky and a landscape scattered with burnt skeletons of buildings was the backdrop to this new scene. Tomoyo stared around and realised she could see people off in the distance, shuffling away from this horrific graveyard-like scene. They seemed hunched as though burdened, their faces turned down against the harsh wind that slapped them over and over again.

"Where am I?" Tomoyo asked again.

Suddenly the Dark card appeared beside her.

"This is ancient China and this used to be the city of Anyang," the card explained, "This was the final battlefield between Clow Reed and the Void card."

"What happened?" Tomoyo asked horrified at the extent of the destruction.

"Clow Reed won and the curse struck him," the Dark card gently touched her shoulders, "There. See?"

Tomoyo turned around slowly and gasped seeing a dishevelled man dressed in rags stumbling towards her.

"That's Clow Reed."

"Yes, oh how the might has fallen," the Dark seemed greatly saddened, "What you are seeing are the final hours of Clow Reed."

"Final hou…" Tomoyo was interrupted as the man fell to his knees.

She raced over to help him but as she knelt down to pick him up, her hands just slid through his body as though she was nothing but a mirage.

"What…"

"You're an observer," the card explained, "Watch. Listen. Learn."

Clow Reed looked up and Tomoyo fell into the dark deep wells of his eyes, twin pool of despair and suffering. She seemed to be falling into them seeing the story of his life through the dull irises. A happy childhood, an adulthood filled with questing and searching, the construction of the Clow cards and the final fight with the Void card.

She caught small snippets as it fast-forwarded before her mind's eyes; she gasped as she saw him launch the final attack: an arrow laced with light. It was exactly as Sakura had described it. The arrow slammed into the Void, light scything through darkness. She saw Clow Reed sealed the malevolent spirit into a card, trapping it and then…

A backlash of black energy that struck Clow Reed in the chest and she could feel it to the depths of her soul. Something evil and dark, poison and shadow, had leapt from the dark bolt into Clow Reed's body before rippling out in all directions changing and destroying the very fabrics of existence in its deadly wake.

"The curse," Tomoyo whispered knowing what this dark energy was.

And then the after effects: Clow Reed stumbling back to civilisation only to be cursed and stoned instead of being heralded as a hero. Strangers and friends alike staring at him with distrust, mocking him openly beating him down. On and on the images flowed but those weren't the worst, it was the emotions that came with it. A sea of despair, suffering, angst, anguish and even feelings that Tomoyo could not put a word to, they crashed after her in terrible waves dashing her spirit against unforgivable rocks. They choked her, drowning her, killing her slowly… tears bled from her eyes as she stumbled and fell…

And fell…

And fell…

And fell…

And blinked.

She blinked and it ended.

Choking back tears, she stumbled backwards horrified at the emotions that ran through this ruin of a man.

"What the hell?" her voice was a ghastly rasp, her breath laboured and gasping as though she had just run a thousand miles and back.

"That's what the curse does to you," the Dark cards said gravely beside her.

Tomoyo stared up into the spirit's face and couldn't help but shudder. The emotions that had just choked her a few seconds ago were still burnt into her heart and mind, she wondered if she could live like that day in, day out. If she could go on…

Her thoughts were cut off as Clow Reed got up slowly, his ragged clothes shifting tears and holes in them revealing bruises and cuts. Tomoyo watched as he stood up, the despair on his face melting away to determination.

"What's he doing?" Tomoyo whispered backing away slowly as the tall mage pulled himself up to his full commanding height.

"Ending it."

"What?"

The Dark merely raised an elegant eyebrow as Tomoyo whipped around, disbelieving eyes taking in the scene before her. Clow Reed raised his hand and whispered something and three glowing balls of light shimmered in front of him. They segued and changed until three familiar figures formed. The three guardians bowed to their master as Clow Reed began speaking.

Even though it was in a language that Tomoyo couldn't hope to understand, it was as though someone else was in her head translating it to her.

"You must protect the books," Clow Reed was instructing his guardians carefully, "Protect them and wait for the chosen three, the angels to appear. Do what I have bid for you to do, test them. But if they are the true ones and protect them with your very lives if need be because this world depends on them and what they will eventually do. They are only hope in the darkness that will come."

"But…" Yue began.

Clow Reed cut him off.

"Go! Remember my words! Remember your duties!"

Shuffling uncomfortably at their master's bleak words, the three guardians disappeared in separate blazes of light leaving the mage alone. Clow Reed looked around, a sad smile dancing across his face. He held up his hands and whispered something. The sky above roared.

Tomoyo looked up as the clouds turned ebony black. Lightning, skeletal golden fingers strummed the chords of the sky, each note a chaotic roar.

"What?" Tomoyo jumped as a huge bolt of lightning ripped across the sky.

Its jagged tip lanced forwards aiming straight for Clow Reed as the mage stood calmly amidst the ruin waiting for the lightning missile to strike him and turn him to mere ashes.

"NOOOOOO!" Tomoyo screamed, "NOOOOO! END THIS!"

The Dark card nodded and Tomoyo was jerked back into the real world. Her senses were confused, clamouring a thousand things at her as the mirror fell from her numbed fingers. She collapsed to the ground, shuddering non-stop sickened to her very soul.

"Mistress…" the Dark card began.

"Go," Tomoyo whispered to the Dark card, "Go. Please."

The spirit looked trouble but had no choice but to obey. Disappearing back into her cards, Tomoyo was left alone. The Japanese Angel was shell-shocked unable to deal with what she had just seen.

Curling up into a shivering ball, Tomoyo hugged her knees and did the only thing she could.

She broke down and cried. Broken sobs wracked her body as she mourned the death of a man who had died a thousand years ago.

* * *

Sakura looked around her surroundings, her mind soaring back to the last time she had been here. Awaking from her coma and stumbling out of the hospital, still disorientated and confused… and now she was back, her emotions just as confused as before. 

Taking a deep breath, Sakura walked into the hospital and joined the queue that stretched back from the front desk, tapping her feet impatiently. As the line slowly whittled down, Sakura finally made it to her destination.

"I'm here to visit a friend," she began smiling softly.

"Name?" the nurse at the desk asked calmly.

"Yamazaki. Zachary Yamazaki," Sakura said slowly.

"Oh," the nurse pursed her lips as a hooded look appeared in her eyes, "Just a minute."

She picked up a phone that lay beside her and punched in some numbers; shooting Sakura an apologetic look she waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello? Dr. Bruck?" the nurse asked, "There's a young woman here to see Mr. Yamazaki. Hmmm… yes?"

She paused as she listened to what the other person had to say.

"Okay. Right. Yeah, I'll send her there," the nurse hung up and turned to Sakura, "Yes, you can go see him but there's some complications…"

"Complications?" Sakura asked concerned.

"Oh just like things," the nurse waved her hands to emphasis her point, "Please, his staying in ward B3. That's down the hall and turn right…"

Sakura thanked her and walked away in the direction that had been indicated. Passing by ward B2, Sakura knew she was close but she stopped as she saw a petite woman with distinct violet hair standing in front of the door to ward B3. Hurrying her steps, she walked over the to the woman as she, obviously a doctor, finally noticed her.

"Are you here to see Zachary Yamazaki?" the doctor asked directly.

Sakura nodded slowly, wondering what was going on.

"Yes," she said slowly.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Helen Bruck," the woman held out her hand and Sakura shook it slowly.

"Is there a problem?"

"Not really," Helen sighed, "It's just that there seems to be quite a few mysteries about Mr. Yamazaki. The nature of his accident, the death of his wife…"

Sakura blinked back tears at the thought of Chelsea's death but managed to reign in her emotions constructing a mask of neutral blandness that she had perfected over the years. Keeping aloof under her mask, Sakura managed to endure what else the doctor had to say.

"And then there was the fire in one of our supply rooms the night one of Yamazaki's friends came to visit him…" Helen trailed off, "You can see our concern."

Sakura shrugged.

"Sorry, I really don't know anything about those. All I know is that one of my friends is dead and another is in hospital. I have to see him now," Sakura said calmly.

Helen stared at her as Sakura stared back, cocking an eyebrow.

"The police have some questions for you," the woman finally said.

Sakura's eyes glimmered, summoning the familiar powers of the key; her emerald eyes began to turn gold as they bore into Helen's.

"You will let me through and leave us alone until I leave," she said calmly, "Okay?"

The doctor's eyes had turned dull but she nodded and walked away as Sakura stared after her. Gathering up her nerves, Sakura walked into the ward and instantly spotted her friend sitting up in bed.

"Hello, Zachary."

* * *

Munching on her pizza, Meiling caught Marcus looking at her and smirked at him, still pretending to be angry with him over the Bambi thing even though she was mostly amused rather then angry. Marcus, finally catching onto her game, pretended to be hurt and looked away. 

Lily who was siting between them ignored their little game, deciding that adults were weird and that T.V. was so much more interesting.

Marcus grabbed the last slice of pizza shooting Meiling a teasing look as she had been reaching for it. Pretending to be even more angry at his actions, she tossed him an annoyed look and got up stalking out of the room throwing a wink over her shoulder to show him she wasn't serious as she headed towards the bathroom to get cleaned up. Locking the door behind her, Meiling walked over to the washbasin turning the tap on as she began to wash her tomato sauce-stained fingers. Drying her fingers, she looked up at the mirror that hung above the washbasin to check her appearance that was when she noticed there was someone else in the room beside her.

Whirling around, Meiling stared at the tiny girl that sat the edge of the bathtub on the other side of the room. The little girl smiled back at her and began swing her legs playfully.

"Hello older-me," the girl chirped.

Meiling stared at her, realising who this strange girl looked like. It was her… at six years old.

"What the?"

* * *

Zachary looked up and Sakura shivered at the dead look in his eyes. 

"Sakura," a small smile appeared over his face but it quickly disappeared.

The Angel hurriedly walked over to his beside and sat down on a nearby chair.

"How are you?" she began.

She stopped.

"Stupid question, sorry," she tried to smile but couldn't, "How are you holding up?"

Zachary shrugged, his face pale and withdrawn.

"Some days are better than others. Today is okay… I guess…"

They sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"I'm so sorry," Sakura began tears quavering her face.

Zachary's head snapped around to stare at her.

"For what?" he asked, frowning in confusion.

"Chelsea…"

"It wasn't your fault," Zachary said firmly, "It was mine."

It was Sakura's turn to stare at him.

"What?" she yelped, "I'm the one…"

But her friend cut her off.

"If I didn't work for Spinnel Corporation…" Zachary trailed off.

Sakura stared at her friend as an epiphany came to her.

"It's neither of ours faults," she said finally.

Zachary stared at her.

"It's Spinnel Corporation's and that blasted Okami Noir," Sakura growled.

Her friend continued to stare at her as the saddened Sakura became something akin to an emerald-eyed demon hungry for revenge.

"Zachary," Sakura looked at her friend calmly, "Something's going to happen and it's going to be big…"

"What?" Zachary was utterly confused, "What do you mean?"

"Your old boss is up to something," Sakura sighed, "And me and my friends are the only ones that can stop him."

Zachary smiled sadly at her.

"I'm pretty sure you can do it," he said with complete faith in his voice.

Sakura smiled at him.

"That's means a lot to me," Sakura let out a slow breath, "I miss her."

He knew what she meant.

"I miss her too. I miss her very, very much."

Another silence descended onto the room.

"Hey, remember that time Chelsea bitch slapped Belinda?" Sakura said suddenly.

Zachary laughed.

The hours slipped by as the two friends sat together, talking and laughing, not mourning the death of Chelsea Yamazaki but celebrating the life she led.

* * *

"What the friggin' hell?" Meiling yelped. 

The younger version of her titled her head up to study her face.

"You swore," the little girl whispered awed, "You aren't supposed to."

"What the?" Meiling cried.

"Meiling?" Marcus's worried voice drifted through the door, "Are you okay?"

"Dandy," Meiling yelled back.

Remembering to keep her voice down she turned to stare the little version of herself.

"Who… what are you?" Meiling demanded in a fierce whisper.

"I'm you," came the innocent reply.

"Am I dreaming?" Meiling wondered.

The little girl leaned forwards and pinched her on the arm drawing a yelp from the Angel.

"Ow!" Meiling hissed at her.

"Pinches prove if they are dreams or not," the girl said authoritatively, "If they hurt, it's real."

"Ow…" Meiling trailed off, "Okay, you're real. How did you get here?"

"Simple," the girl smiled, "You called me."

"HUH?"

Mini-Meiling paused and frowned.

"Well, actually you didn't call me but your actions did," the girl with more wisdom then was possible for a six-year-old.

"Not much with the following here," Meiling muttered rubbing her temples.

"Okami Noir has the final piece of the tri-sword," mini-Meiling informed her sounding extremely adult like.

"So?"

"The moment he got the sword, a backlash happened. Something of unspeakable evil had occurred," the little girl sighed, "This whole world is about balance."

"So, let me get this straight," Meiling groaned, "Noir getting the sound created this mystical imbalance in the cosmic scale and to even it a six-year-old version of me appears?"

"Bingo!" the little girl cheered, "Yay, me!"

"Was I ever this annoying?" Meiling wondered aloud, "How long are you going to be here?"

"Only a while but it's enough," the little girl shrugged, "The balance eventually steadies itself."

"What does an imbalance have to do with a little girl?"

The girl cocked her head and stared at her.

"An evil act was performed," she explained, her adult voice appearing again, "What is evil?"

"The opposite of good?"

"No dummy, the opposite of good is bad. The opposite of evil is innocence because an act of evil is an act devoid of innocence."

"And I thought the opposite of innocence was guilty," Meiling moaned.

"Silly older-me, you are wrong," little Meiling jumped down from the bathtub and began dancing around, "Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!"

Meiling was getting a headache fast.

"Why are you here?" she demanded.

The little girl stopped singing and stared up at her.

"To tell you a secret," she whispered in a stage whisper, which was quite loud.

"What secret?" Meiling asked deciding to play along.

She glanced down the little version of herself but min-Meiling seemed to be distracted by a tiny wisp of hair that clung stubbornly to her cheek. Fiddling with it, she only managed to get it tangled up in her fingers trying to free herself she yanked at her hair.

"OW!" she cried.

Meiling instantly knelt down and freed the girl's fingers.

"Thank you, older-me," little Meiling smiled into her face.

"Okay, what's the secret kiddo?"

"I'm not a kid!" little Meiling huffed, "Big sis keeps calling me that but I'm not a kid! I'm six years and three-twenty months old!"

Meiling wondered briefly what three-twenty months old actually meant but decided not to complicate things.

"What's the secret?"

Little-Meiling leaned forwards until her she could whisper into Meiling's ears.

"It's coming," she whispered in a small scared voice that sent shivers up Meiling's spine, "She's coming and she's scary. She's going to swallow this world whole."

"The Void," Meiling whispered.

Her tiny twin pulled back and nodded solemnly.

"If she wins there's going to be no more cake or Christmas or Santa Claus or pretty flowers or puppy dogs or… or… or…" tiny-Meiling trailed off, "Or Hello Kitty!"

"Is that all you've got to tell me?" Meiling asked, "That I'm screwed…"

"You swore! Again!" mini-Meiling was shocked, "Bad older-me! Bad, bad, bad!"

"That I'm in trouble," Meiling tried again, "So? Tell me something I don't know."

"Ooo… but that wasn't all!" mini-Meiling beamed at her, "I've got a present! A shiny present! It's Christmas-y and birthday-y and it's absolutely super-duper magnifantabulous with a cherry on top!"

"Huh?"

Mini-Meiling beamed at her and held out her tiny hands, a small glowing object appeared in between her palms and she held it out to Meiling. Meiling slowly reached forwards and cupped the tiny girl's hands with her own.

"This," Mini-Meiling smiled at her, "This is a gift from the powers above."

"God?"

"Not quite," Mini-Meiling winked mischievously at her, "In your darkest times when you are alone may this be your shiny light."

She smiled once more at Meiling.

"And it is super-duper magnifantabulous!"

The little girl began disappearing before Meiling's eyes seemingly melting away into mist as the glowing object fell from the girl's hands into her own. As Mini-Meiling shot her a final smile, the girl disappeared leaving Meiling alone in the bathroom once more.

Slowly unfurling her fingers, Meiling stared at the object that rested between her palms. A Clow card as she studied it closely she realised there was no name on this card only an image: a ruby red heart with four long wings jutting up at different angles.

"What the…" she whispered.

"Meiling?" Marcus's concerned voice was loud enough to tell Meiling he was standing in front of the locked door.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Meiling said still dazed, "I'm fine."

Looking down at the card, Meiling bit her lip.

"Maybe more then fine," she whispered.

Tucking the card into her pocket, she slowly got up and unlocked the door smiling up into Marcus's concerned face.

"Sorry," she said breezily before sweeping past him and back into the living room continuing to play their little game.

Marcus shook his head and smiled as he joined his family in watching some quality T.V.

* * *

Scraping the hair away from her eyes, Tomoyo looked up at the clock and cringed realising the time. Staring around stupidly, she realised she must've fallen asleep. 

"Oh god," she moaned feeling her whole body ache.

She froze as she remembered the terrible vision she had had of Clow Reed's life after the curse had struck him. Shivering uncontrollably, she managed to struggle over to her kitchen and get herself a glass of water. Managing to choke it down, she sat down on a nearby stool and tried to steady herself. She was an emotional wreck, she was well aware of that.

"God, I need to calm down," she groaned.

She glanced through the kitchen door and noticed her T.V. set.

"Hope there's something good on," she muttered struggling into the living room.

Rearranging herself comfortably on the couch, she switched on the T.V. and tried to forget her problems.

But the image of Clow Reed standing calmly there as death barrelled towards him kept playing over and over again in her head.

And the same thought always accompanied that image.

That could be me

* * *

Diana Armstrong looked up as Kevin Lacuray appeared in front of her desk. 

"What?" she demanded turning back to her work.

"That's not very nice," he teased.

"I've got work to do Kevin," she snapped, "Unless it's important get out!"

"Fine, but I was going to tell you there's someone here to see you."

"Huh?" Diana looked up as Sakura walked into her office, "Sakura!"

"Maybe I should leave," Kevin began.

"Get out," Diana snapped.

Kevin shrugged and left as Sakura stared after the man.

"Cute," she noted.

Diana glared at her.

"Please don't tell me you like him," she sighed exasperated.

"Me? No!" Sakura shot her a sly look, "You on the other hand."

Diana glared at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"Oh, nothing… just that little rule about you know you argue most with the person you like…"

"What that rule sucks."

"Ooo… struck a nerve didn't I?" Sakura teased.

"Oh god, you're like him," Diana groaned leaning back into her chair, "So Saku, what's up?"

"You've heard about Chelsea?"

Diana nodded sadly.

"Yeah."

"I talked to Zachary," Sakura sighed, "We decided something."

"What?"

"When I kill his ex-boss, I'm going to do it for Chelsea."

Diana raised an eyebrow.

"Not that I'm trying to stop you or anything but isn't that illegal?"

"That's why I'm coming to you now."

"Wha?" Diana was taken aback.

Sakura laughed.

"Just kidding, Di. Just kidding," Sakura took a sit in front of Diana and sighed, "I'm here to say… goodbye."

"You're going somewhere?" Diana wasn't following.

"Something big is coming. And I don't think I'll come out unscathed," Sakura admitted quietly.

"No you're not," Diana snapped fiercely, "You're going to go in swinging and you'll come out victorious!"

"Anyone ever tell you you're one hell out of a motivational speaker?" Sakura teased.

"Hey, I was friends with a depressed nerd for years!"

"Hey!" Sakura laughed, "Jeez, claws much?"

Diana smirked at her.

"So, this Kevin guy…"

"Don't even think about it," the lawyer growled.

"Think about what?" Sakura was all innocent eye batting.

Diana sighed.

"Don't you usually pull this stuff on that friend of yours, Meiling?"

"Oh, Meiling? I'm getting bored," Sakura shrugged, "Anyway they got past that shy stage so fun really gone. You on the other hand…"

"Are a sitting duck?"

"Eloquently putting it… yeah."

Sakura glanced around her office and noticed the amazing amount of paperwork that was lying around on her friend's desk.

"A lot of work?"

"A lot."

Sakura went to get up.

"Then I should leave and let you get on with it," she said as she began to leave.

"No! You don't need to…"

Sakura cut her off.

"Just do your job," Sakura laughed, "You're practically married to it by now."

"I'm resent you hinting I'm a workaholic," Diana shot back.

Sakura shrugged.

"Bite me," she seemed to turn serious, "Diana?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad you're my friend," Sakura said gently.

"Me too," Diana smiled.

Sakura shot her friend one last wistful smile before leaving her office, seeing Kevin Lacuray on the way out she strode over towards him.

"You're Kevin right?"

"Yeah?" Kevin was curious to know what Diana's friend had to say to him.

He was half expecting a slap across the face considering what Diana probably told her about him but he was mildly surprised at what she said. Okay, mildly surprised was an understatement of epic proportions, stunned and shocked to his soul would've been more appropriate.

"Take her out," Sakura commanded poking him in the chest, "She likes Chinese or Thai, she adores kung-fu movies, she loves swimming and obviously loves her work. And if you hurt her, I'll personally hunt you down and stomp you down into the ground. Capische?"

Cocking an eyebrow at him, Sakura gave him a bright smile before swanning out of the office leaving behind a confused Kevin to work out what had just happened and how to use this new information given to him.

* * *

Meiling lay in Marcus's arms unable to sleep. It was late at night, Lily was already asleep in the guest room Meiling had set up for her and soon after that the two adults had also turned in finally giving up the pretences of their little game and giving in to their feelings. 

"Meiling?"

"Yeah?" Meiling asked.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know," the Asian Angel whispered.

Marcus sat up and stared down at her.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know how long this will last," Meiling admitted softly.

"Last?"

Meiling got up and leaned against his shoulders staring off into the darkness trying to gather her tumultuous thoughts together. There were so much confusion and unanswered questions with a big smack of fear. Plus on top of that her still freaking out about the visit from her younger self, add all that together you get an emotional package that would cause a less strong person to crack under the strain.

"Something's going to happen," Meiling said slowly, "And I don't know what's going to happen afterwards… if I make it through at all."

"You'll make it through, I know you will."

"How?" Meiling asked.

Marcus stared intently into her eyes.

"Because you're the strongest person I know of."

Meiling blushed and looked away but Marcus's hands rested on her cheeks gently forcing her to look at his eyes, to seeing the sincerity and love shining in them.

"You're stronger then you think," he whispered softly, "You'll make it through whatever happens to you because you're… you and that's the most amazing thing in the world."

"Boy, you are a smooth talker," Meiling whispered lovingly.

"I know I am," Marcus smiled before kissing her softly.

Meiling laid her head against Marcus's shoulder as her worries and fears about the curse boiled back to the surface again.

"Will you love me?" she wondered aloud, "Forever?"

"Forever," Marcus promised.

Considering the circumstances that shouldn't have meant a lot but to Meiling it was enough. The emotions behind that one word were more than enough.

"I love you," she whispered, "I don't ever want to lose you."

"I love you too," he whispered back, "And you'll never get rid of me."

One kiss led to another and the finally both of them fell back onto the bed as their passion ignited deep into the night.

* * *

Staring at the T.V, Tomoyo decided she was even more emotionally fragile then before. 

"Why Jack?" she wailed, "Why did you have to die?"

Then again watching Titanic probably wasn't the best idea in her emotional state. Unable to handle the sad death scene anymore, Tomoyo turned off the T.V. and looked around for something else to do. Her eyes roved around the room until it lit upon her stereo system.

"Maybe some music," she mused as she got up and walked over to her C.D. collection.

Pulling out one of her favourite CDs, she slid it into the stereo and fiddled with the controls until she got it to where she wanted it to be. Hitting play, she sat back down on her sofa as a flurry of piano music began playing and the song started.

* * *

Sakura sat on the park bench and studied the dark sky above paying attention to the glittering gems that adorned the dark canvas. 

"Mom, I don't know if you're up there or not," she said softly, "But I miss you. And I hope that you're proud of me."

She stopped.

"I'm scared. Of what's to come. If I fail I fail the whole world, if I succeed… I don't know if I could go on," she stared up at the stars hoping for an answer of some sort, "What I am I supposed to do?"

_'cause when your in you're darkest hour'_

It seemed to Sakura then there was a warm presence beside it, there was nothing there but she could feel it and she though she could hear a warm voice whisper something in her ears.

"Do your best," the voice whispered, "Do your best and everything will fall into place."

Sakura smiled.

"Thanks mom."

* * *

_' And all of the light just fades away'_

Meiling gently untangled herself from Marcus and pulled some clothes on, walking out of her room she head towards Lily and gently opened the door. Seeing the young girl sprawled across the bed sleeping contentedly, she smiled. Walking quietly beside the bed, she pulled the blankets over the girl's shoulder tucking her in.

_' When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of grey'_

She gently kissed the girl on the head and exited the room again but not before she turned around and whispered something to the sleeping girl.

"Sleep well…" she smiled, "My daughter…"

* * *

Tomoyo felt his presence before seeing him. 

"It's time isn't it?" she asked gently still listening to the music pouring out from her stereo.

"It is," Yue said gravely.

_' Well hang on…'_

Tomoyo turned around and stared into Yue's face.

"I'm ready."

_'Be strong'

* * *

_

If Tomoyo had continued to watch the final hours of Clow Reed's death she would've be shocked at what happened next. As the bolt of lightning crashed into the mage, his body was torn asunder but not his spirit. A spectral mist rose from his ashy remains and began blazing with light. The air began rippling around it as the mist began twisting and twirling faster and faster and faster. With a burst of light that illuminated the area even out-blazing the lightning above, it tore itself into two. The two separate pieces of Clow Reed's spirit shot off into the sky disappearing through time and space until it came to a certain time at certain place where both of them were reborn again into separate bodies.

_'The one shall split into two and the two shall never know each other. When the darkness comes, they shall be made whole and their remaking shall turn the tide.'

* * *

_

Lara Williams was dreaming, a nightmare of darkness and shadows and a pair of blazing emerald eyes that demanded revenge. She screamed as she cold fingers wrapped themselves around her neck strangling the life out of her but the emerald eyes were still there, still staring at her still filled with rage.

She screamed and she screamed and screamed…

And then the eyes vanished and her screams were cut off.

Lara Williams shot up in her hospital bed looking around wildly.

Eriol Hiragizawa stared at her dispassionately as she looked around trying to make sense of her surroundings. Beside him stood Rika Sasaki, her blank eyes taking in the scene before her with no emotional reactions on her part. In front of both of them stood Okami Noir who was smiling gently down at Lara.

"Hello Lara," the man whispered, his voice a cobra's hiss, "I've got a job for you."

* * *

SORRY ABOUT THE LONG DELAY! BUT THE END IS NIGH! AND HA! ANOTHER CLIFFIE! 

Next chapter:

As the guardians take them to the final battlefields, the resurrection ritual for the Void card begins. The girls will have to fight through magic, old enemies and inner demons if they hope to even reach Okami Noir. But will they be too late? And what of the curse? And what is the purpose of the card given to Meiling? Past and present meets as the ancient prophecy becomes fulfilled and the Angels come fully into their powers. Find out what happens in the final chapter of Syaoran's Angel in… _Full Circle_

A/Notes:

Wow, that took a lot longer then a thought. The song featured in this chapter is 'Be Strong' by Delta Goodrem from her album 'Mistaken Identity' and it's a great song. Oh, the lyrics are contained in italics

And the prophecy mentioned after Clow Reed's spirit split in half was first seen in 'Mirror, Mirror', Chapter 27 I think that was. It was in the caves with the tablets.

And finally, I wonder what that card given to Meiling was… hmmm….


	33. Full Circle Part 1: Into the woods

It is finally here! The last few chapters of Syaoran's Angel! Sorry it took too long but here it is! Please, please, please REVIEW!

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine. What's others belong to others

**Syaoran's Angel**

**Chapter 32: Full Circle (Part 1), Into the Woods**

Previously on Syaoran's Angels… 

"No, I think we should concentrate our effort in stopping Noir from reviving the Void card," Meiling snapped back, "Keeping Xiaolang's part of the tri-sword safe for example."

"Thanks," a rough voice said from behind them.

The group whirled around and stared straight into a pair of ebony black eyes that crackled with power.

"Thanks for safekeeping it for me," the man continued, his voice low and inhumanly guttural.

Sakura stared into his cruel face, a spark of recognition throwing her mind into chaos.

"Oh my god..." she whispered taking a step backwards in fright.

"Sakura?" Meiling asked grabbing her, steadying her.

"It's Heilang."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

It was Tomoyo who finally dropped the bombshell.

"He took the final piece of the tri-sword… now he was everything need to resurrect the Void," she said softly.

"What?" Sakura looked at Meiling.

The Angel nodded sadly.

"What are we going to do?" Sakura demanded, "Do we even know where this resurrection is going to take place?"

"The guardians said there are several places that can be used and they wouldn't know which one until the ritual for the resurrection actually starts," Meiling sighed, "They say they can teleport us there once we know and we'll have to try to stop the ritual then."

"How much time do we have until then?"

"About 24 hours."

"So what do we do?"

"The guardians," Tomoyo stopped, "The guardians told us to say goodbye to our families."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"If Touya and your mother was still alive they would've smacked some sense into you by now," Fujitaka said with a small smile, "Cherry blossom, you're being silly."

Sakura looked up at her dad, surprised.

"Bad things happen because they happen… not just because you were around or something stupid like that. It's chance."

"With what I've seen… I don't think I believe that anymore."

"You know what I believe in?" Fujitaka asked suddenly.

Sakura looked at him.

"What?"

"You."

"Dark card! Come to me release and dispel!" she cried.

A dark imposing queen crowned with a glittering tiara rose from the card and bowed before her.

"I am sorry about the incident in the airport," the spirit said almost apologetically, "His powers were too strong to resist."

"It doesn't matter," Tomoyo took a deep breath, "I'm wondering…"

And at that point Tomoyo almost lost her courage but she steeled herself knowing that this must be done.

"Can you show me… show me what happened to Clow Reed after the curse took place."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"You must protect the books," Clow Reed was instructing his guardians carefully, "Protect them and wait for the chosen three, the angels to appear. Do what I have bid for you to do, test them. But if they are the true ones and protect them with your very lives if need be because this world depends on them and what they will eventually do. They are only hope in the darkness that will come."

"But…" Yue began.

Clow Reed cut him off.

"Go! Remember my words! Remember your duties!"

Shuffling uncomfortably at their master's bleak words, the three guardians disappeared in separate blazes of light leaving the mage alone. Clow Reed looked around, a sad smile dancing across his face. He held up his hands and whispered something. The sky above roared.

Tomoyo looked up as the clouds turned ebony black. Lightning, skeletal golden fingers strummed the chords of the sky, each note a chaotic roar.

"What?" Tomoyo jumped as a huge bolt of lightning ripped across the sky.

Its jagged tip lanced forwards aiming straight for Clow Reed as the mage stood calmly amidst the ruin waiting for the lightning missile to strike him and turn him to mere ashes.

"NOOOOOO!" Tomoyo screamed, "NOOOOO! END THIS!"

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"What the friggin' hell?" Meiling yelped.

The younger version of her titled her head up to study her face.

"You swore," the little girl whispered awed, "You aren't supposed to."

"What the?" Meiling cried.

"Meiling?" Marcus's worried voice drifted through the door, "Are you okay?"

"Dandy," Meiling yelled back.

Remembering to keep her voice down she turned to stare the little version of herself.

"Who… what are you?" Meiling demanded in a fierce whisper.

"I'm you," came the innocent reply.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"Okami Noir has the final piece of the tri-sword," mini-Meiling informed her sounding extremely adult like.

"So?"

"The moment he got the sword, a backlash happened. Something of unspeakable evil had occurred," the little girl sighed, "This whole world is about balance."

"So, let me get this straight," Meiling groaned, "Noir getting the sword created this mystical imbalance in the cosmic scale and to even it a six-year-old version of me appears?"

"Bingo!" the little girl cheered, "Yay, me!"

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"This," Mini-Meiling smiled at her, "This is a gift from the powers above."

"God?"

"Not quite," Mini-Meiling winked mischievously at her, "In your darkest times when you are alone may this be your shiny light."

She smiled once more at Meiling.

"And it is super-duper magnifantabulous!"

The little girl began disappearing before Meiling's eyes seemingly melting away into mist as the glowing object fell from the girl's hands into her own. As Mini-Meiling shot her a final smile, the girl disappeared leaving Meiling alone in the bathroom once more.

Slowly unfurling her fingers, Meiling stared at the object that rested between her palms. A Clow card as she studied it closely she realised there was no name on this card only an image: a ruby red heart with four long wings jutting up at different angles.

"What the…" she whispered.

"Meiling?" Marcus's concerned voice was loud enough to tell Meiling he was standing in front of the locked door.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Meiling said still dazed, "I'm fine."

Looking down at the card, Meiling bit her lip.

"Maybe more then fine," she whispered.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Pulling out one of her favourite CDs, Tomoyo slid it into the stereo and fiddled with the controls until she got it to where she wanted it to be. Hitting play, she sat back down on her sofa as a flurry of piano music began playing and the song started.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura sat on the park bench and studied the dark sky above paying attention to the glittering gems that adorned the dark canvas.

"Mom, I don't know if you're up there or not," she said softly, "But I miss you. And I hope that you're proud of me."

She stopped.

"I'm scared. Of what's to come. If I fail I fail the whole world, if I succeed… I don't know if I could go on," she stared up at the stars hoping for an answer of some sort, "What I am I supposed to do?"

_'cause when your in you're darkest hour_

It seemed to Sakura then there was a warm presence beside it, there was nothing there but she could feel it and she though she could hear a warm voice whisper something in her ears.

"Do your best," the voice whispered, "Do your best and everything will fall into place."

Sakura smiled.

"Thanks mom."

_' And all of the light just fades away'_

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling gently untangled herself from Marcus and pulled some clothes on, walking out of her room she head towards Lily and gently opened the door. Seeing the young girl sprawled across the bed sleeping contentedly, she smiled. Walking quietly beside the bed, she pulled the blankets over the girl's shoulder tucking her in.

_' When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of grey'_

She gently kissed the girl on the head and exited the room again but not before she turned around and whispered something to the sleeping girl.

"Sleep well…" she smiled, "My daughter…"

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Tomoyo felt his presence before seeing him.

"It's time isn't it?" she asked gently still listening to the music pouring out from her stereo.

"It is," Yue said gravely.

_' Well hang on…'_

Tomoyo turned around and stared into Yue's face.

"I'm ready."

_'Be strong'_

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Lara Williams was dreaming, a nightmare of darkness and shadows and a pair of blazing emerald eyes that demanded revenge. She screamed as she cold fingers wrapped themselves around her neck strangling the life out of her but the emerald eyes were still there, still staring at her still filled with rage.

She screamed and she screamed and screamed…

And then the eyes vanished and her screams were cut off.

Lara Williams shot up in her hospital bed looking around wildly.

Eriol Hiragizawa stared at her dispassionately as she looked around trying to make sense of her surroundings. Beside him stood Rika Sasaki, her blank eyes taking in the scene before her with no emotional reactions on her part. In front of both of them stood Okami Noir who was smiling gently down at Lara.

"Hello Lara," the man whispered, his voice a cobra's hiss, "I've got a job for you."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura slowly turned around and smiled sadly.

"Hello Kerberos," she said softly.

In reply the guardian merely bowed his head folding in his immense wings. Sakura slowly got up and dusted herself off, trying to bring her thoughts into some semblance of order.

"It's time I guess, huh?" Sakura asked already knowing the answer.

"You need to get ready," Kerberos said gravely.

Sakura nodded.

"I'm ready as I'll ever be," Sakura stretched slowly loosening her muscles, "Let's go."

The winged lion move forwards as Sakura reached out with her left hand and gingerly placed it on his haunches. Kerberos growled under his breath and Sakura looked around one last time before gold light claimed her body and they disappeared.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

As Ruby Moon appeared before her, Meiling jumped.

"Jeez!" she yelped, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Ruby Moon merely looked at her, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Time to go?"

The butterfly guardian nodded.

Meiling fell silent as she stood there, lost in her thought, her mind solely focused on the other two people in this house, the two people who meant more to her than anything else on this planet.

Could she leave them?

Could she go on once she lost them?

Meiling closed her eyes and struggled with her emotions briefly. But a single thought came to her shearing through her despair and questionings.

She had to go otherwise all would be lost.

"It's time," Meiling forced a determined expression on her face, "Let's go out and kick some Wicked Wizard of the West ass."

Ruby Moon grabbed her arm and they were gone.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

There are many places on this planet that are not as they seem. Some spaces were holy, divine… blessed, others not so. They were cursed, damned and overflowing with evil but there were those that were neither. Not a place of the light nor of the darkness, they simply were. Places through coincidences, mishaps or perhaps fate came to be on this planet, places that throbbed with power that was just waiting to be tapped into and used. For good or evil, nobody really knows. How these places came about and why they existed at all, these well of mystical energy, was not meant for man to know.

But that isn't the point.

The point is, they exist.

And Okami Noir was currently standing on one of the most powerful places in the world. A piece of paradise, a slice of lush emerald forest right in the heart Laos but who knew that this leafy façade hid something much more underneath.

"ARISE!" Noir yelled.

He plunged his magic deep into the earth sensing the dormant power that hibernated within the soil and rock like a slumbering seed. As soon Noir exerted his will, the power bursting into life, the earth cracking open as tendrils of energy blossomed into the air fanning out in all directions. Beneath the soil something rumbled and began moving trying to claw its way up to the surface, standing behind him Eriol, Rika and Lara Williams looked on with some apprehension as Okami frowned and flung more of his magic down into the dark abyss that lay across the loamy soil marring its lush fertile perfection.

"Temple of Sacred Spirits, I summon thee!" Okami Noir cried, his eyes going pure black with that power that surged within him.

A stone structure began to emerge from the soil, high arched roofs appearing first dragging crumbling walls behind it. Eriol whistled lowly, Lara scowling as the rumbling finally stopped; all around the jungle was deathly silent. Okami Noir smiled up at the ancient submerged temple he had just summoned.

"The ancient people of Laos, the Khmer, knew the power of this place and they built a temple on it," he turned around and smiled at his cronies, "But this was swallowed up by an immense earthquake that shook this whole land and it has been lost for centuries… until now."

His smile became a razor blade hidden in soft silk.

"And this shall be the place where the Angels die."

He whirled around, the dark cloak draped over his shoulder swirling behind him. With confident strides he walked through the dark entrance of the temple, Lara and Rika following behind him. Eriol hesitated looking around slowly.

"Tomoyo…" he whispered before he reluctantly trudged into the temple.

Behind him the jungle began changing.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"Where are we?" Sakura muttered looking around.

"Laos," Kerberos growled.

Sakura's eyes widened as she stared around. Green-furred trees towered up into the blue sky, scraping the clouds with wooden limbs. Emerald, jade, teal and turquoise bejewelled the trees rustling with every breath of wind. The leafs above formed a dense dome, pale shafts of sunlight managing to penetrate through and spotlight tiny sections of the leaf-littered ground. All around her the cries of animal formed a wild orchestral that boomed through the air.

"Why?"

Kerberos sighed.

"This is where Heilang plans to resurrect the Void card."

Sakura blanched.

"Where are the others?"

"Close by," Kerberos cocked his head to the side, "Come on."

The winged lion lumbered through the forest as Sakura followed, her senses on high alert.

And all of them were screaming at her to run.

To run for her life.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling looked around, unnerved and unimpressed. It was extremely unusual for any person to feel those two emotions at the same time but Meiling was complex enough and nerve-wracked enough to do both.

"What's with the Survivor: Amazon theme?" she asked choosing annoyance as her main emotion for now.

To say she was feeling antsy would be an understatement of epic proportions, every part of her body felt tense. Her mind was screaming at her to run for her life and her emotions were about as stable as a pregnant woman's. In short, she felt like she was five seconds away from a mental meltdown.

"Where's everybody else?" she wondered looking around.

All that greeted her were acres and acres of greens and the occasional rainbow of flowers. She looked by at Ruby Moon who seemed lost in thought.

"Hello?" Meiling asked waving her hands in front of the guardian.

She snapped out of it and stared into Meiling's eyes.

"Come," she said softly walking off into the forest.

"Okay…" Meiling quickly followed her.

Soon they were swallowed up by the forest; lost within a woody labyrinth stumbling every closer towards their destination.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"Laos?" Tomoyo looked around, "Umm… why?"

She shot a look at Yue who seemed vaguely attentive but the bulk of his attention was obviously somewhere else.

"Hey! Sailor Moon!" Tomoyo jabbed him in the chest.

The moon archer was startled out of his thoughts but quickly composed himself shooting Tomoyo an annoyed look before spreading his wings out slowly and retracting them again.

"What?"

"Why are we in Laos?"

Yue waved his hand around as though presenting the forest to her; Tomoyo stared at him still confused.

"Umm… a verbal answer would be nice."

"There are things in this world known as ley lines."

"Ley lines?" Tomoyo frowned, "I'm guessing that ain't the name of a train company."

Yue shot her a withering look.

"Ley lines are lines of powers that run across the face of this planet," Yue replied dryly, "Skeins of mystical energy that crisscross the earth and in some places these lines intersects. Once that happens a thing known as a power well is formed."

Tomoyo felt like she was in high school again forcing herself to stay awake as her science teacher droned on and on about the wonders of refraction or dispersion or Huygen's theory of light. She wished Yue would just get to the point already because she wasn't sure how long she could keep up her mask of polite attentiveness.

"In Laos, there is a place where over a dozen ley lines cross each other's path. One of the biggest power wells in the world sits there," Yue sighed, "I think Heilang is going to tap into that power in order to resurrect the Void."

"And hallelujah, he gets to the point," Tomoyo muttered inwardly rolling her eyes.

She looked around.

"Where are the others?" she asked.

"This way," Yue began moving silently through the trees like a lean white cat as Tomoyo shrugged and trailed him.

Guardian and Angel trekked through the forest as all around them, magic surged and the world segued.

Sakura was lost in thought as she silently followed Kerberos through the Laotian forest.

Even as her body weaved its way expertly through the trees, her mind was far away going back to a time and place where things were a lot simpler and she wasn't even an Angel.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

_Flashback_

Sakura Kinomoto was tired.

Tired of herself: the way she dressed, the way she looked, the way she acted… the list was endless.

Studying herself in the mirror, Sakura frowned. Ugly metal braces covered her teeth, her hair (limp and dull) was tied up into a ponytail that dangled down from her head and her clothes were ill fitting at best.

"Jeez, Sakura," she muttered to herself, "Could you look less like a nerd?"

Grabbing her books, she left her dorm room walking hurriedly down the hallway, her eyes staring at the ground the whole time trying to avoid eye contact with everyone else.

"Sorry," she mumbled stumbling into someone.

"Retard," the blonde-haired girl muttered as she brushed past her.

Sakura felt herself go red but she still refused to look up as she struggled through the packed hallway. Finally making it towards the exit, Sakura walked out into the bright sunlight trying to ignore all the other girls standing around outside, dressed in tank tops and mini skirts, mocking the loser that walked past them. She tried to ignore their taunting looks, their snide remarks and superior smirks.

Wishing she was more self-confident and able to stand up to them, Sakura hurried across the college campus heading towards her destination: the library a.k.a. her sanctuary.

Pushing through the door, she quickly walked over to the study area. Piling her books onto the desk, she took off her bag and laid it gently down onto the ground beside her. Making herself comfortable on the hard wooden chairs, she pulled her laptop out from her bag and turned it on.

Connecting to the net, she began checking her e-mails.

Spam…

Spam…

Spam…

Spam…

Spa…

"Wait a minute," Sakura frowned as she studied the e-mail sitting in her inbox, "Syaoran's Investigations?"

Clicking on the e-mail icon and opening up the message, Sakura began reading unaware at that exact moment her life began to change.

_End of Flashback_

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling began to realise why she was never a nature person.

"Damn it!" she cried, stumbling over another tree root.

Her arms cartwheeled around wildly trying to keep her balanced as Meiling swore again.

"You know for someone who's supposed to possess the powers of nature," Meiling muttered, "Nature sure hates me."

Ruby Moon remained silent picking her way through the dense foliage. Meiling sighed and began following her again.

"Funny," she mused, "When I signed up for this I never thought I'll end up here."

Shaking her head, Meiling stumbled after Ruby Moon tripping over another tree root as she went.

"ARGH!"

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

_Flashback_

"One… two… three!" the referee cried, "BEGIN!"

Meiling dressed in a loose white cotton pants and a kimono-style top stood poised and ready, a black belt wound around her waist indicating her master level for all the world to see. Her opponent, an Asian male, was also wearing a black belt. He stalked towards her, his impressive height making him look intimidating and dangerous. A lesser opponent may have felt the first tingles of nervousness but Meiling was undaunted and unafraid.

"Bring it on," she whispered moving into a fighter's stance.

He came at her with a flying kick but Meiling easily grabbed his outstretched foot and slammed him down into the ground. He tried to kick her from his position on the ground but Meiling easily dodged his blows, grabbing him again and slammed him against the floor again driving the air from his lungs.

"HALT!"

The referee intervened forcing Meiling away as the judges awarded her a point. The crowd behind her clapped and whistled in appreciation as the man slowly climbed to his feet only to see Meiling smirking at him ready for more. A few tense seconds passed as the two combatants circled each other sizing his/her opponent up.

This time she struck first, throwing a combination of chops and hammer-blows punctuated by the odd kick. The man managed to block or deflect many of her strikes but a lucky knuckle punch cracked him across the face. Meiling threw another one at him hitting him in the chest before leaping up into the air and hitting him with a snap-kick that sent him stumbling backwards. Landing lightly, Meiling waited for the man to get up but he stayed there on the ground coughing weakly as the referee went over to him.

A few seconds later, the referee straightened and faced the crowd.

"Meiling Rae wins!" he announced.

The crowd roared into life as Meiling smiled modestly and bowed to them. One of the judges came over and awarded her an immense golden trophy as Meiling held it high above her head in victory.

"THANK YOU!" she cried, "THANK YOU!"

Smiling happily, she practically bounded off the field as the crowd surged towards her. Laughing and shaking the trophy over her head, Meiling managed to make her way through the crowd and into the training room. Several of the other contestants were there and some of them congratulated her whilst others shot her dirty looks before swanning out through the door.

"You were great out there!" one woman gushed.

"Thanks," Meiling smiled, "I watched your match, you weren't bad either."

Placing her trophy down on a nearby bench, Meiling were still smiling as she opened up her locker and pulled her bag out. Digging her mobile out of her bag, she noticed there was a text message waiting for her.

Frowning in confusion, she pulled the message up and read it.

"Syaoran Investigations?"

_End of Flashback_

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Tomoyo and Yue glided through the trees, both of them silent as they scanned the trees carefully watching for the slightest trace of danger. The air around her seemed oppressive pushing down on her, suffocating and choking her. Instinctively Tomoyo knew that the air was practically humming with magic and it was driving her senses crazy.

She was fidgety and sweating and not just because of the humid air. Shaking her hair away from her damp forehead, she closed her eyes and tried to put her mind off her current uncomfortableness.

Losing herself in her memories, Tomoyo's body went into autopilot as her body navigated the trees, her mind was losing itself into the past.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

_Flashback_

Dressed in a stunning designer dress Tomoyo swept through the door, moving with all the regal bearing of a queen. Shooting polite smiles to people she recognised, she suppressed the strong urge to scream with boredom instead choosing to paste a bland look of slight amusement on her face as various handsomely dressed men appeared and began flirting outrageously with her. Inwardly she sighed in exasperation as each man brought up their wealth as though it was enough to impress her, each time she gave them the same reply: a false brilliant smile before slogging through the rest of the conversation until they left.

"Aren't you having fun dear?" her mother appeared in her line of vision.

Tomoyo allowed her mask to drop as she shot her mother an angry look.

"You dragged me away from work to this?" she demanded fiercely, her voice just barely above a whisper.

"You need to relax and have fun, honey," Sonomi Daidouji replied seemingly unconcerned in the face of her daughter's fury, "Go around, mingle, chat."

"You mean flirt around and hope that some rich man would propose to me by the end of the night, mother," Tomoyo spat out the last word with stinging venom.

Sonomi sighed.

"Tomoyo, you've got to realise that you can't always be alone all the time. You need to have someone in your life…"

"I've got a job," Tomoyo reminded her mother, "I'm not like Ms. Skanky-ho that's eyeing every million businessman that comes her way. I've got a purpose in my life."

"You can't play with computers all your life."

"It's not playing!" Tomoyo snapped.

"Whatever, honey," Sonomi gave Tomoyo a dreary smile, "Have fun just for tonight… for me?"

"Fine," Tomoyo huffed.

Sonomi nodded before throwing herself back into the party, chatting with potential business partners as her daughter continued to fume.

"Hello, Ms. Daidouji," another suit-wearing businessman appeared at her elbow again, lust glittering in his eyes, "May I say you look radiant toni…"

"Bite me," Tomoyo snapped whirling around and storming off.

Pushing her way through the crowd, she made it to the bar. Plunking herself down onto a stool she gestured at the barman.

"Champagne," she ordered briskly.

The barman instantly poured her a drink handing it to her, clutching the glass flute in her hand Tomoyo spun around on her stool and faced the crowd forcing herself to smile lest her mother see her true emotions and come over once again nagging her to have 'fun'.

Sighing into her glass, Tomoyo took a delicate sip closing her eyes in pleasure. When she opened them again, she was startled to find a man standing in front of her.

"Excuse me?" Tomoyo asked quizzically.

The man gave her a short bow before handing her a small piece of paper.

"A gentlemen sends you his regards," he said mysteriously before walking off back into the crowd.

Frowning in confusion, Tomoyo placed her champagne flute back onto the bar top before unfolding the piece of paper.

"Huh?" Tomoyo frowned, "Syaoran's Investigations?"

_End of Flashback_

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura smiled to herself thinking back to the first time she had ever heard of Syaoran's name. She remembered the contents of that e-mail off by heart now and had remembered her confusion at the cryptic message it contained.

Looking around at her surroundings, Sakura bit her lip as she realised how far she had come from those days.

Stretching her neck and quickening her pace to keep up with Kerberos, Sakura remembered her miraculous transformation just before her first meeting with Syaoran and the other two Angels.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

_Flashback_

"There you go," the orthodontist said with a small smile, "The braces are off now."

He handed Sakura a mirror. Nervously she brought it up to her face and nervously peered into it. What she saw startled her: a neat row of pearly white teeth, which to her was the nicest feature of her face.

"Thank you," Sakura said sincerely climbing out of the chair.

They exchanged a few more words mainly about Sakura keeping her teeth healthy before the young American girl left the clinic still coming to terms with the fact that she no longer needed her thick, ugly braces. Suddenly her phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Hello?" Sakura asked picking up.

'CHERRY!' 

"Hey, Diana," Sakura replied happily, "Guess what? My braces are gone!"

_'Thank god, finally!' _Diana sighed, _'Now all you have to do is change your fashion sense.'_

"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked nervously knowing exactly where her friend was going with this.

_'Cherry, I know you think you're ugly or something but you're not. Get out and buy some decent clothes for once, get those ugly woollen sweat of yours and burn them,' _Diana commanded firmly, _'It's about time you left your shell and live a little!'_

"I'm not so sure at this…" Sakura began hesitantly.

_'Do it. Or I swear by god, I'm going to hit you over the head, stuff you into a bag and drag you down to the mall and make you buy something at gunpoint,' _Diana threatened, _'I'm serious, Cherry. I know you think you can't wear those kind of clothes but you can.' _

"Fine," Sakura sighed, knowing that Diana on a mission was something nobody wanted to mess with, "I'll do it."

_'Jeez, could you be less enthusiastic?' _her friend muttered.

"I'll do it!" Sakura yelled down the line drawing some curious stares from by-passers.

_'Great! And remember I want to see photos of your transformation. Photos,' _Diana repeated, _'And burn those old clothes of yours.'_

"If you're sure…" Sakura brushed the hair away from her face, "Guess, I'll see you soon, 'kay?"

'Sure.'

Her friend hung up as Sakura shoved her phone back into her bag. Once that was done, she changed her direction heading towards the mall.

_End of Flashback_

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Tomoyo's senses were playing havoc with her, the humid air seemed to press down on her with unbearable force. The trees themselves seemed alive, gnarled trunks become hideous, distorted faces that screamed and taunted her.

"God, get a grip," she muttered to herself.

Every single inch of her skin crawled and trembled as the air itself seemed to become heavier, Tomoyo gritted her teeth and closed her eyes trying to calm her nerves down even though her whole body was reacting violently to her surroundings.

"Yue?" she managed to choke out at last.

The winged guardian turned around slowly.

"Is…" her voice was trembling, clearing her throat and trying to steady herself Tomoyo managed to force out the rest of her question, "Is the forest… is it filled with magic."

Yue nodded gravely.

"Heilang is plotting something," he whispered grimly, "Dark magic is coursing through every tree filling every vein on every leaf with power."

"Uhhh… why?"

"To try and kill us," Yue replied flippantly.

"Oh," Tomoyo muttered dryly, "You know for a minute there I was worried… now I'm fighting a complete mental breakdown."

Yue ignored her as he continued trekking through the trees, Tomoyo several steps behind him trying to fight the almost overwhelming urge to run for her life.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"The trees themselves are coming to life," Ruby Moon murmured almost to herself as she looked around, her ruby eyes turning a steely crimson.

"Aren't trees usually alive?"

"The trees are five seconds away from sprouting vines and tearing us apart."

"And people say I'm pessimistic," Meiling griped under her breath.

Meiling followed Ruby Moon's gaze and shivered as she realised that the trees were rustling even though there was no wind at all. She looked closer and gasped seeing it wasn't just the leaves that were moving, the trunks themselves were trembling with fine force.

"Can we hurry up?" Meiling whispered urgently.

Ruby Moon nodded briskly and quickened her steps; Meiling jogging behind her throwing fearful glances behind her back.

"This is beyond creepy," she muttered.

Suddenly they burst through a dense covering of bushes and ended up in a natural clearing, Meiling glanced up and was relieved to say a pale patch of blue sky above awash with the faint pink of morning. Her nerves seemed to steady somewhat at the familiar sight but with the trees rustling at her back, she couldn't afford to relax.

She almost had a heart attack as on the other side of the grove, the trees began thrashing wildly. Her hands immediately flew to the tiny butterfly bracelet around her wrist as something crashed through the foliage.

"Finally," Sakura sighed, "Jeez, at this point I'm wondering what's Green Peace so worked up about."

She glanced up and noticed Meiling.

"Hey, you made it!" she cried happily running over to her friend.

They gave each other a brief hug before turning simultaneously to regard the two guardians who were conversing quietly.

"Where's 'Moyo?" Meiling asked casually.

"Here," a voice said from behind them.

Both girls jumped and whirled around.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Sakura yelped.

Tomoyo shrugged helplessly and shot them a weary grin.

"Hi."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

_Flashback_

Tomoyo breezed through the impressive glass and ebony door of the building she had been directed to, stopping briefly to regard the proud gold plague that adorned the warm cream-coloured wall beside the doorway.

"Syaoran Li," Tomoyo considered frowning in confusion, "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

Shaking her head, she strolled through the doorway and entered an immense room lined with bookshelves however the main feature seemed to be at the far wall, a solid wooden desk polished to the point that it seemed to gleam stood there invitingly as though coaxing her to come closer. Confused at what was supposed to happen here, Tomoyo walked towards the desk realising that several metres in front of it was a set of cream-coloured couches and a low coffee table, siting at in one of the seats was a young auburn-haired woman.

She had been distracted by some kind of magazine. Tomoyo seeing the kind of clothes the woman wore rolled her eyes.

"Airhead," she muttered under her breath half-expecting the magazine to be Vogue or something just as vain.

Sakura glanced up at the woman and gulped seeing her stylish outfit that screamed taste and money. Plucking nervously at her own outfit, a bright yellow sundress complete with white sandals, she tacked a warm smile onto her face trying not to be intimidated by this Prada-clad woman.

"Hi," she cleared her throat, "I'm Cherry… well kind of… I guess…"

Tomoyo arched an elegant eyebrow as Sakura flushed.

"My real name's Sakura," she tried again, "But my friends call me Cherry."

"I guess I'll call you Sakura then," Tomoyo replied crisply.

Sakura froze at that comment as Tomoyo elegantly swanned around the couch and made herself comfortable as far away from her as possible. Feeling embarrassed and awkward, Sakura glanced down at her magazine and began reading again.

It was a foreign magazine written in Italian however the article was about some new Egyptian pyramid discovery, thanks to her archaeologist father Sakura had a deep interest in some matters and could even translate some basic hieroglyphs. Glancing at the glossy pictures that depicted some carvings on the pyramid wall, Sakura was pleased to realise she could translate at least two-thirds of it. A genius at many languages, she had no problem reading the article at all.

Finishing the article, Sakura threw the magazine down onto the coffee table and pawed through the small pile of magazines that lay there. Pulling out a French one, Sakura flipped it open and began reading.

Tomoyo pulled off her sunglasses and calmly followed them tucking them into her coat jacket before studying the girl sitting across from her subtly. There was a small frown on her face as she glanced down at the magazine, Tomoyo inwardly snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Probably thinking about what shoes go with what dress," she muttered under her breath utterly sick and tired of rich little girls more worried about fashion then anything else.

A silence descended onto the room as Tomoyo sighed and glanced at her watch wondering if something was supposed to happen unaware that Sakura, bored of the magazine she was reading, was studying her.

"Ice Queen," Sakura muttered shaking her head.

No doubt, she was one of those rich girls who looked down upon others just because they were well… not rich. She saw her glance down at her watch and resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Afraid you'll miss your manicure appointment?" Sakura muttered sarcastically to herself as she gave in to temptation and rolled her eyes.

Ignoring the Ice Queen as she had ignored her, Sakura turned back to her magazine.

Suddenly the door burst open, both girls turned around expecting Syaoran (whoever he was) to walk in but another woman strolled into the room. Sakura and Tomoyo blatantly stared at the newcomer, dressed in black jeans underneath a red blouse with a tan-coloured leather jacket covering her top; this new woman was dressed to kill. Ruby eyes swept over the two occupants of the room as an incredulous look appeared on her face.

"Am I in the wrong place?" she wondered loudly.

"If you're looking for Syaoran, you are not," Tomoyo said calmly.

Meiling glanced at her.

"Jeez, check out Gucci Barbie," she drawled.

Tomoyo's spine stiffened at the insult.

"I'm not blonde," she snapped back.

Meiling shrugged and waltzed over to the couch throwing herself down non too gently. Sakura trying to keep things civilised introduced herself.

"I'm Sakura," she stuck out her hand.

"Meiling," Meiling took Sakura's hand and gave it a quick shake.

She glanced at Tomoyo.

"My name is Tomoyo."

"Charmed to meet you," Meiling muttered dryly.

An icy stare was hurled her way, which Meiling pointedly ignored.

"So…" Sakura trying to make small talk, "When did you get Syaoran's message?"

Meiling and Tomoyo stared at her.

"You mean you got one too?" Meiling demanded.

Sakura was confused.

"Huh?" she frowned, "Ahh… why else would I be here?"

"Did you actually read it?" Tomoyo asked, her voice scornful.

"Duh," Sakura rolled her eyes injecting sarcasm into her voice, "No, I didn't."

"Jeez, this Syaoran guy must be desperate…" Meiling muttered.

Sakura felt her body stiffen as memories of her hellish high school life flood into her mind, for a few moments Meiling and Tomoyo's face seemed to disappear replaced by Belinda's scowling countenance. Shaking herself free from that particular memory, Sakura shook herself and plucked out her courage… seems like her makeover was doing more than change her appearance!

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sakura demanded.

"Oh, nothing," Tomoyo drawled.

"Oh god," Sakura snapped, "Get over yourself, Ice Queen."

"What?"

"You heard me," the voices were getting progressively louder, "Get over yourself and your 'I'm better than thou' attitude."

Tomoyo narrowed her eyes at Sakura but whirled on Meiling as she began cracking up.

"Whoa," Meiling sniggered, "Fluffy kitten has claws."

"FLUFFY?" Sakura growled.

"I'm an Ice Queen, at least I'm not a sarcastic, cynical fashion victim," Tomoyo spat.

"Me?"

"Oh please, only thirteen-year-olds trying to dress up like adults and ending up looking like a skanky ho looks like you."

"At least I don't have to chase penguins out of my bed," Meiling shot back, "Ms. Freeze."

"Fluffy?" Sakura glared at Meiling, "What do you think I am? A Care Bear?"

"No, I think you're an ex-cheerleading, glory days are over airhead."

Sakura laughed out loud.

"If only you knew," Sakura muttered to herself, the others only catching snippets of her sentence.

"What?" Tomoyo sighed, "Great, we have a psycho wreck muttering to herself."

"What was that?" Sakura cocked her head, "OH! Wait it must be the frigid winter wind blowing through the window."

The three girls glared at each other, murderous intent blazing in their eyes. Suddenly a warm male voice cut through the crackling mood causing all three girls to jump.

"Good morning, Angels."

As one all three girls turned around slowly and stared at the cream-coloured speaker box lying on the desk.

"WHAT?"

_End of Flashback_

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"What?"

"The power well is only a kilometre from here," Yue informed them.

"Yay?" Sakura glanced at the other two guardians, "That's good, right?"

"Why didn't we just teleport right to this power well thingy?" Meiling asked curiously.

"Heilang's got it protected by magic and the power well itself emanates enough power to distort any type of intrusive magic like that," Yue explained calmly.

The three Angels exchanged confused looks but let it pass.

"Okay, a kilometre," Tomoyo took in a deep breath, "We can do this. It's only a kilometre… one thousand metres… one hundred thousand centimetres… one million millimetres."

"As the saying goes," Sakura began taking a step forwards, "A journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step."

Meiling joined her friend's side and gazed into the forest depths. Fixing a determined look on her face, she plucked up her courage and took another step forwards reaching the edge of the clearing.

"Alright, let's…" she began.

With no warning at all, the trees began trembling violently, everyone stared in shock as a thousand thick wooden vines burst from the shaking trunks and rumbling earth. They merged together, twining in between each other to form a solid wooden barrier, to top it off a thousand thorns burst into life from each vine.

Meiling felt her courage falter at the sight of writhing, living wall of razor sharp thorns.

"… do this," she finished weakly.

From beside her, Sakura whimpered.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Nadeshiko Kinomoto shivered as the whole Limbo shook with incredible force, from some far off plane she could hear tortured screams and demonic laughter. The bitter stench of sulphur invaded her senses as she finally realised what was happening. The walls separating the Limbo from the two final destinations of dead souls were slowly breaking down. Heaven and Hell was blending together into the Limbo and eventually the Limbo itself would collapse pouring the powerful forces of Hell and Light onto earth. What happens next after that was anybody's guess.

"Don't worry, Mommy Nadeshiko," a small voice said from beside her.

Nadeshiko glanced down and smiled at Mini-Meiling.

"I'm not worried… yet," she frowned, "But Heilang is strong and cunning. My daughter and her friends doesn't seem to realise just how treacherous Heilang can be."

"They are the chosen three," Mini-Meiling told her with innocent confidence in her voice, "They will beat back the darkness."

"What of the curse?"

"Already taken care of," Mini-Meiling beamed up at Nadeshiko who looked down at her in confusion.

"If you say so little one."

Mini-Meiling smiled up at her before turning away and staring at something off into the distance, her eyes becoming unfocused and dreamy.

"Do not worry because even in their darkest hour there is still hope," the young girl whispered.

"What hope?"

"The hope born of courage and love," a bright smile flashed across Mini-Meiling's face as she began giggling, "And the final prophecy."

"The final…" Nadeshiko glanced down at her, "What game are you playing at?"

When Mini-Meiling spoke again, her voice was no longer that of a young girl's but some divine force beyond simple human understanding.

"The one shall split into two and the two shall never know each other. When the darkness comes, they shall be made whole and their remaking shall turn the tide," Mini-Meiling peered up at the taller woman, her voice reverting back to normal, "See? Bright shiny hope."

Nadeshiko opened her mouth to reply but the Limbo shook again as hideous screams filled the air.

"It has begun," she noted calmly.

Mini-Meiling nodded.

"The crossroad," the young girl agreed, "The dice is thrown but where it lands and how this ends."

She stared off into the distance again.

"Not a soul knows."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

A shower of fire, crystals and crimson energy sheared the thorny wall in half as the girls made a run for it ducking under writhing vines that whipped the air with deadly force. Sakura almost got a face full of thorns when she risked a glance backwards with a yelp she jumped backwards and almost fell over into a thrashing mass of thorny vines but Meiling's hand shot out steadying her. Sakura shot the Asian Angel a grateful smile before racing through the rest of the thorny growth. Once they had cleared the harrowing grove, they looked backwards at the thrashing vines and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ouch," Sakura muttered gingerly probing a long thin cut on her cheek.

"We're lucky to be alive," Meiling wheezed.

"Damn right," Tomoyo muttered.

The three guardians crashed through the vines shearing a path through the thorny growth with their magic trying to destroy them with fire and crystals quicker than they could regenerate.

"That was not fun," Ruby Moon muttered ripping a thorn free from her arm, "Remind me to not do that again."

"Come," Yue cocked his head towards one particular direction, "The power well is this way."

"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to death we go," Meiling chanted under her breath as she picked herself up.

The other two Angels did the same with loud groans.

"Come on," Tomoyo muttered heading off towards the direction Yue had indicated.

Suddenly with no warning at all, six writhing mass of vines shot out from the earth.

"WAH!" Sakura screamed as one mass whipped itself around her legs imprisoning her.

"SAKURA!" Meiling tried to help her friend but she too was quickly entangled,

"DO SOMETHING!" Ruby Moon yelled at Kerberos.

Tomoyo was the next to be captured but the guardians soon followed. The vines seemed to regenerate at an almost insane pace growing new growth even as fire and energy incinerated them; it was inevitable as the guardians too were captured by separate masses of thrashing vines.

"What the hell is goi…" Tomoyo's sentence was cut off as she was slowly raised into the air as the vines began growing.

They shot up into the air bursting through the canopy and into the pale sunlit air.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Sakura whimpered.

"What are they…" Meiling's eyes bulged in shock as the vines holding her began dipping backwards, "What the…"

Everyone watched in horror as the wispy vine that connected Meiling to the ground bent backwards and suddenly with no warning at all it snapped back into position. The vines let go of her as the force of that movement catapulted Meiling through the air throwing her deep into the Laotian jungle.

"Oh shi…" Sakura whispered as her bunch of vines did the same.

One by one, each of the captured Angels and their respective guardians were tossed in all different directions crashing through dense canopy and landing painfully on the loamy earth below.

Within the temple that sat over one of the strongest power wells in the world, Heilang smirked.

"United they stand a chance," he whispered, a wicked smile dancing across his face, "Divided… they die."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling groaned in pain.

"Ergghhh," she whimpered as she crawled to her feet.

She glanced around at her dark surroundings feeling the first dark whisper of fear in her mind but her eyes lit up as she saw who else was with her.

"Ruby Moon!" she cried running over to her battered guardian, "Are you okay?"

"Just give be me a minute so my spine can un-break itself," the guardian muttered, "I know I'm immortal and all but… OW!"

"That's not exactly going to be new ride at Disneyland, I know," Meiling agreed with her, "But we need to get moving. Where are the others?"

"Tossed in different directions," Ruby Moon glanced all around her, "The power well is that way, I can feel it."

"How far?"

"A fair way off from before," Ruby Moon groaned, "God, I hate this forest."

Meiling's well-trained eyes caught the first trace of movement in the shadows.

"Well, prepare yourself to hate it a whole lot more," she muttered dryly.

"Wha?" Ruby Moon whirled around, "AH!"

Meiling instantly summoned the Clow sword as she glanced at the incoming army.

"Glad I don't have arachnephobia," Meiling whimpered.

The two women prepared to do battle as a sea of glittering red eyes, venom dripping fangs and squat furry bodies burst from the forest and washed over them.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura didn't know to bless the gods or curse them with every breath in her body as she realised she was going to land in the middle of a swamp.

"PLOOOOSSSSSHHHHHH!"

Water rushed into her mouth and blinded her as she trashed around wildly trying to fight her way up to the surface.

Cursing, she decided as she struggled to what she hoped was the surface. She was going to curse the gods she decided, curse them with every breath in her body but in order to do that she had to be alive so…

"THANK GOD!" she cried as she burst to the surface.

Sucking in a grateful lungful of air, Sakura began treading water as she studied her surroundings. Wispy gauzes of mist clung to every surface, ethereal and eerie like lost souls looking for a final resting place. Sakura began swimming towards the nearest bank with even strong strokes as over the sound of trickling water she could hear frog croaking off in the distance. Finally her feet hit soft mud and she managed to pull herself up onto her feet, shivering at the feel of cool air against her damp skin, Sakura waded her way up the bank and dumped herself down onto the dirt.

"Hello? Anyone there?" she called looking around, "Tomoyo? Meiling? Yue? Ruby Moon? Kerberos?"

No answer, only the distant croak of frogs.

"And the bad news just keeps on rolling," Sakura moaned hanging her head wearily.

Suddenly from above her, a huge roar could be heard. Sakura jumped to her feet and looked up to the sky in horror half expecting to see a dragon or something charging at her, she gasped as she realised it was Kerberos. The winged lion had his wings outstretched and was flapping furiously trying to break his current trajectory, which would have ended up with him being dumped into the swamp. At the last possible moment, he broke out of his freefall and zipped across the surface of the water skimming it with his claws. Sakura hurriedly jumped out of the way as he crash-landed onto the muddy bank next to her.

"That looked like that hurt," Sakura noted.

Kerberos merely groaned as he crawled to his feet and stretched his wings delicately checking for damage.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked concerned.

"I'm alive."

"So you are in pain."

Kerberos shot her a scathing look before sniffing the air delicately.

"Where are we?"

"Still in the jungle," Kerberos sighed, "But further from the power well then we were originally."

"Oh great," Sakura groaned, "Trekking our way through the jungle of death to the power well of death."

Kerberos pointedly ignored her.

"Let's go," he commanded stalking off towards the forest.

Sakura turned to follow him but froze as she heard something peculiar.

"Kerberos?" she called.

"Yes?"

"Do you hear that?"

As one they turned around and stared at the swamp as it began bubbling and frothing wildly throwing white-spittle foam into the air. The water began to churn and segue as Angel and guardian backed away hurriedly.

"What on…" Sakura began.

She jumped as something leapt out from the raging torrent and landed right in front of her.

"AGH!" she froze as she realised what it was, "What the hell?"

She stared down at the tiny innocent green frog that sat in front of her. Sakura gaped at it as it looked up at her with twin wet globes and gave a small croak.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Sakura muttered, "Jeez, you scared me little froggie with the frothing and the churning and the…"

Kerberos and Sakura stared in horror as the frog blinked and began changing. Its body quivered and shook as it mutated to a hundred times its size until it towered over both of them. A long crimson tongue poked out from fang lined maws as its skin began breaking out into bumps and ruts, forest green became venomous blacks and purples as its once big wet black eyes narrowed until its was gleaming red slits. Spines and fins dripping with acid venom burst through its potholed skin all over its muscular body, each one easily the size of Sakura's arms. It gave an earth-shaking roar and glared down at its victims.

Sakura gaped up at the behemoth.

"Does anybody have a rocket launcher handy?"

As the sentence left her mouth, the monster-frog's hideous tongue shot forwards smacking into Sakura. The American Angel screamed and struggled as the tongue wrapped itself around her waist and began pulling her towards her death.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Tomoyo crashed through what felt like fifty storeys worth of canopy, branches that seemed to have been grown specifically to scratch as much of her battered body as possible slowed her fall somewhat but when she finally crashed onto the damp ground below it was with enough force to rattle her teeth.

"Whoohoo," Tomoyo muttered disgustedly under her breath, "Can we do that again?"

The Angel staggered to her feet clinging to a nearby tree trunk for support. She looked around at her surrounding and shivered not liking the fact that every single tree nearby towered over her and were had grown in such a dense fashion that she literally could not see past the first thicket of trees. It was a mixed blessing, she couldn't see what was coming but she too was hidden from view unless the trees sprout vines again and ripped her to shreds.

Tomoyo shuddered at the thought of bloodstained trees before pushing down that thought and focusing on the task at hand.

"Hello?" she called uncomfortably aware of the fact that her voice boomed in the still damp air, "Anyone else here? Meiling? Sakura? Yue?"

"I'm here."

"WAH!"

Tomoyo slapped a hand to her chest trying to stop her heart from bursting out from her ribcage as she whirled around.

"DON'T DO THAT!" Tomoyo yelped her nerves finally calming down, "Jeez!"

Yue gave her an unamused look whilst Tomoyo sent him her patented frigid-blizzard glare. The winged guardian sighed and looked up at the skies as though pleading the gods for patience as Tomoyo smothered a giggle.

"So we survived the fall," she mused looking around, "Now what?"

"We try to reach the power well," Yue replied looking off into the forest, "It's that way."

"Why did Heilang let us live?" Tomoyo wondered, "I mean those vines could've torn us to shreds."

"I don't think he wants to kill us that easily," Yue muttered, "He always was a sadist, he wants to do it personally."

"So all this?" Tomoyo gestured at the forest, "Is nothing more then…"

"A ploy to soften us so to speak."

"Soften?' Tomoyo whimpered, "I don't want to be there when he begins pounding us."

"I think he's just warming up," Yue said cryptically.

Tomoyo looked at him strangely.

"What?"

Yue wordlessly gestured to something behind her, filled with dread Tomoyo slowly turned around. She gasped in horror as something lumbered towards them. A monster, made of rocks, roots and dirt messily joined together, dark holes in what was roughly its head formed eyes and mouth. It's arms were rooty steel cables ending in long stone talons; it shuffled towards them emanating a dull from the dark abyss of its mouth.

"Oh god," Tomoyo moaned, "What the hell is tha…"

She was cut off as the earth behind the ambling monster burst upwards, three more dirt and root monsters leapt free from the damp soil joining its companion as they ruthlessly marched towards them, mindlessly intent on their goal.

Tomoyo gulped.

"… are those?" she whispered fearfully.

"Golems."

"Huh?"

"Creatures born from magic and made of earth," Yue explained, "They follow the will of their master to the bitter end."

"And I wonder what the master's will is?" Tomoyo drawled rhetorically.

"He wants them to kill us."

"Bingo."

Angel and guardian held their ground and waited for the golems to come; the atmosphere was crackling with fear and apprehension as the mindless monsters drew closer.

Yue gestured with his hands and a rain of blue crystals crashed into first golem tearing it apart, Tomoyo cheered as he turned the fire to the next monster. It too disintegrated until the attack.

"These guys are so tou…" Tomoyo began.

She let out a shriek as she felt an iron-hard vice settle around her waist, she struggled to see her attacker and gasped seeing it was another golem. Yue turned to help her but from behind him, another golem burst free from the ground and clubbed him in the back of the head. The guardian went down as two other golems emerged and leapt on top of him.

Tomoyo snapped her head backwards, head-butting the golem in the face. For a few precious seconds, the pinching grip around her waist loosened. She immediately bent forwards at the waist grabbing the golem's arm in her hands and flipped it over her shoulders dumping it onto the ground.

She backed off hurriedly as it crawled to its feet and roared mindlessly at her. Tomoyo risked a glance behind her and blanched.

Surrounding the clearing was a ring of golems ready to tear her apart.

"Oh man," she moaned.

As one they all leapt forwards.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"FIERY CARD! TORCH THEM! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Meiling roared.

The fire sprite burst free and immediately unleashed a tongue of crimson flames baking the first rank of incoming spiders. But there were plenty more.

They leapt into the air swinging on gossamer webs aiming straight for their faces, Ruby Moon destroyed them under a barrage of red energy. The Fiery unleashed a second wave of fire incinerating more spiders but they just kept on coming.

The Clow card faltered for a few seconds as a net of webs fell over her but the fire dancing across her skin easily destroyed it. A few seconds later another rain of web fell on her, this time it took a bit longer for the web to burn.

"What the hell?" Meiling muttered watching Ruby Moon attack again with a blast of energy.

The spiders that had disintegrated so easily before stood up to the attack for a few minor seconds before being destroyed. The next blast, it took longer.

'What's going on?" Meiling demanded.

"I don't know!" Ruby Moon yelled desperately, "It seems they're building a resistance to our attacks."

"Oh great," Meiling muttered.

The Fiery was under attack by a horde of spiders, even as she burned them down more would take their place and each round she unleashed her fire, the spiders would endure it that much longer before succumbing to the heat.

"Oh god," Meiling moaned.

An ambitious spider leapt down from the trees above her. Year of training and instincts made Meiling jump hurriedly out of the way as it crashed landed onto the forest floor in front of her, it instantly sprung up onto its eight feet, its glittering eyes glaring at her. She gulped seeing that this furry arachnid was easily the size of a rabbit.

"Where's a can of Raid when you need it?" Meiling moaned as she swung her sword and hacked the spider in two.

A cry of pain made Meiling whirl around just in time to see the Fiery card, besieged by spiders, retract back into its card form and fly towards her. Meiling caught the card deftly and turned to Ruby Moon, the butterfly guardian was not having much luck either.

She watched in horror as one spider easily the size of her arm leapt onto the guardian's face digging into her alabaster skin with its fangs and claws, Ruby Moon let out a yelp of pain before slapping her hand across the spider's furry body and yanked it off, hurling it away in one swift movement. A beam of ruby light struck the spider throwing it back into forest but not killing it. Meiling wilted at the sight.

"Oh god," she moaned.

She had no time to dwell on the inevitable outcome of this particular battle as several spiders lunged at her. Desperately trying to avoid those venomous fangs, she lashed out with the Clow sword cutting them down in mid-air but plenty more were waiting to take their place.

"WINDY!" Meiling cried desperately, "RELEASE AND DISPEL!"  
A huge gust of wind blew the spiders away giving Meiling several precious seconds of reprieve. Ruby Moon blew some more spiders back but they just kept coming.

"Great, now they're not even phased!" Ruby Moon yelled, "DO SOMETHING!"

Meiling scrabbled around for a suitable card.

"Got it!" she yelled holding one of the cards up triumphantly, "FREEZE CARD! ENCASE THIS PLACE WITH ICE! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A roaring Arctic wind blew into the forest as a blue beam of energy shot out from the card, it coated the forest leaving behind a thick layer of ice in its wake. The spiders were all struck, struggling at first until ice gripped their bodies and plunged them into deep sleep. Ruby Moon blasted back the last few spiders that clung to her flinging them into the path of freezing energy and watched in satisfaction as they became ice sculptures. Meiling staggered once the Freeze card was finished, breathing labouredly she returned the card and turned to Ruby Moon.

"Let's get out of here?" she suggested weakly.

"Hell yeah," Ruby Moon agreed.

Both women raced into the forest towards the direction of the power well leaving behind a winter wonderland.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"AHHHHHH!" Sakura stared down the monster's fanged gullet and freaked.

"WAIT!" Kerberos opened his mouth and unleashed a torrent of flames.

The monster roared with pain as fire lashed its face, thankfully the tongue around Sakura's hip loosened and the Angel sprung free from its sticky embrace. The toad-monster glared at Kerberos with its red slit eyes and croaked loudly. Sakura and Kerberos watched the beast cautiously as its tongue shot back into its mouth. For a few seconds both sides stared at each other willing the other to make the first move.

Suddenly the toad's eyes twitched, Sakura and Kerberos were already in motion as it attacked. It sucked in its heavy stomach as its cheeks bulged, narrowed red eyes glared at them as it opened its gaping mouth.

"WAH!" Sakura leapt hurriedly out of the way as a wad of clear liquid burst from its throat.

It struck the earth missing Sakura by several inches as the Angel breathed a sight of relief but soon gawked at the impact zone as the clear liquid began sizzling letting out streams of acrid smoke as it ate away at the dirt.

"Eep," Sakura whimpered realising how close she had come to being sprayed with venom.

The toad's eyes twitched again. Kerberos hurriedly took to the air as a blast of venom corroded the earth beneath him.

Sakura yanked the key from around her neck and held it aloft, pale light glimmering across the golden surface.

"Key of Stars with powers burning bright! Reveal the staff and shine your light! Release!"

The Star wand soon manifested itself into her hands as the toad spat another burst of venom at her.

"SHIELD CARD! PROTECT ME! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Sakura cried hurriedly.

A dome of blue light closed over her as the venom smacked the protective ward, it slid off the magical wall like water dribbling onto the earth. With a thundering roar, the toad leapt forwards landing with an earth-rumbling crunch, it lowered its head and rammed it against the magical barrier. Sakura gaped as the dome began crumbling. Gritting her teeth, she concentrated and channelled more of her energy into card. Miraculously it held even as the monster rammed it again with its horned head.

"Back away from her!" Kerberos roared warningly blasting out a jet of flames.

The force of the blow shoved the toad away violently as Sakura hurriedly dissolved the Shield card, gasping in exertion. The beast steadied itself and glared at them, its eyes twitching.

This time Sakura tried a different approach.

"JUMP CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Semi-transparent wings grew from her ankles and she instantly leapt into the air, sailing up into the sky as though the constraints of gravity could no longer contain her. Kerberos soared up into the air hovering next to her as the toad's venom completely missed burning more smoking holes into the muddy bank. Sakura flew back down onto the ground landing lightly on her feet as she eyed the toad, it croaked and wriggled its body. Its loose red and purple skin rippled as the poisonous spines poking through its skin clacked together dangerously.

From above Kerberos let out another blast of fire at the monster, with a loud croak it managed the incredible task of leaping backwards plunging itself back into the swamp as fire lashed the muddy bank baking it into hard stone. Ripples and a trail of bubbles were all that remained of the monster.

"Is it gone?" Sakura called up to her winged guardian.

"No," Kerberos muttered pointedly, "I don't think it would give up that easily."

Just as the words left his mouth, the swamp surface surged upwards. The monstrous amphibian leapt out once again but Sakura was waiting for it. A single jump turned into a soaring leap thanks to the Jump card as the toad crashed onto the bank croaking loudly, water dripping down from its spine spiked skin, it seemed angry as it realised that it hadn't crushed its victim beneath its amphibian bulk.

But it had bigger things to worry about.

Sakura let out a fierce war cry as she aimed the Star wand down at the monster and let gravity take over her once more. Kerberos screamed at her for being an idiot as she sailed down straight at the toad, it looked up at her and its eyes twitched preparing itself for another venom blast but Kerberos got in first splashing its face with red flames. The creature roared in pain as Sakura continued to plummet down from the sky.

"HIYA!" she cried swinging her wand around.

She cringed as she felt the hard top of the Star wand punch through the toad's delicate eyes, tearing through a thin membrane and unleashing a gush of red. The monster screamed as it clawed at its ruined eyes, Sakura hurriedly yanked the wand free and leapt backwards landing several metres away.

"RUN!" she screamed at Kerberos not even bothering to wait to see if the monster would surrender.

She plunged deep into the forest, Kerberos right at her heels.

"We can take to the air!" Kerberos roared at her as from behind them an earth-shattering roar filled the air, "It will be safer!"

Ironically, as soon as those words left his mouth, the canopy above began shaking. Sakura looked up wildly just in time to see thousands of leafy creepers burst into life, growth cycles accelerating as the tender green tendrils became iron-hard vines that knitted together to form a living dome above them blocking their access to the sky. As if to warn them about the foolishness of trying to penetrate this living wall, the vines sprouted razor sharp thorns, dark and bloodthirsty.

"You were saying?" Sakura muttered dryly to the shocked guardian.

The toad-beast seemed to have recovered by now and had tried to charge them however its large bulk couldn't squeeze in between the meagre space between the towering tree trunks. It snarled and spat at them, venom chewing through some of the trees however it simply could not get to them. With a final defiant snort, it whirled around and leapt back into the swamp as Sakura and Kerberos breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, now that we got rid of the Mutant Ninja Adult Toad where do we go?" Sakura asked looking around at the almost pitch-black forest thanks to the blanket of thorned vines above.

"That way," Kerberos gestured with his hand.

Nodding, Sakura broke out into a jog as Kerberos followed.

Their retreating forms were quickly swallowed up the shadows of the dark forest.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"Can't we talk about this?" Tomoyo pleaded, "Please? Living-dirt-root-guys? Umm… I come in peace?"

One of the golems charged straight at her and Tomoyo had to duck hurriedly as it swung its heavy stone claws at her missing her head by mere millimetres.

"Fine, you wanna fight?" Tomoyo snapped straightening herself and glaring straight into the golem's face, "Let's fight!"

She immediately flipped into a horizontal spin, double-kicking the golem in the face. She watched in satisfaction as it stumbled backwards crashing back into its companions, she lashed out with her left foot snap kicking another golem in what would be its knee. The joint disintegrated into dust under the impact, Tomoyo smirked as it stumbled forwards hitting the ground face-first however her smile disappeared as she realised that it just kept coming towards her even though it was dragging itself forwards with its arms.

"Okay, problem," Tomoyo muttered hop-kicking the one-legged golem.

Its head snapped back as Tomoyo lashed out at it again, this time the force of the blow sent the head flying. It sailed off into the forest however to Tomoyo's horror, the golem was still moving.

"God, these guys are like the 'Night of Living Dead' on steroids," Tomoyo moaned.

She ducked as two stone claws swung at her, to Tomoyo's immense joy the golems took each out as the claws missed her and crashed into each other. But that joy was short-lived as one again even though the blow had torn out a good chunk from each golem's shoulders, the monsters were far from dead.

"Damn, damn, double damn," Tomoyo griped as she struck another golem with a right hook, she threw in a quick left hook managing to shove the golem away but doing nothing to actually destroy it.

She body-slammed a golem down and managed to stomp on its neck crushing it but like the one before, it was still alive and thrashing. Tomoyo hurriedly leapt out of the way to avoid its flying talons but had to dodge again as the golem before her swiped at her body.

She kicked and punched and shoved and tossed as many of the golems as she could but their sheer number and their almost indestructible nature proved to be the winner. She was slowly losing ground as the ring of dirt creatures slowly but surely closed around her.

"YUE!" Tomoyo cried, "HELP!"

She shot a glance at the guardian but he was still under attack and disorientated.

"Great, just great," Tomoyo sighed, "This is really unfair…"

She smiled at the golems.

"So I think it's time to even the odds," Tomoyo grabbed the Clow ring from around her finger, ""Source of light with ancient spin, send forth the magic power within! Forces of darkness hear my plight! Mirror appear and send forth the light! RELEASE!"

The Clow mirror fell into her hands as Tomoyo flipped it around expertly until the mirror's surface was pointing straight at the golem right in front of her. She concentrated and unleashed her magic. A pale beam of energy blasted the golem to rubble as Tomoyo smirked.

"One down," she cheered.

Whirling around, she blasted a hole through one of the golem's attacking Yue and smiled as the guardian used it to his advantage destroying his other attacker with a barrage of crystals. He rose to his full height and began blasting the other golems with his magic. They marched towards them but were quickly cut down under a rain of crystals and energy beams; Tomoyo felt a triumphant smile dance across her face.

"Alright! Take this!" she cried unleashing another beam.

"This is taking too long," Yue said tightly, "We are wasting time."

His words jolted Tomoyo making her remember why they were here in the first place. Joy was replaced with determination as she nodded.

"Right," she pondered what to do next, "Let's see what we can do about tha… ahhh…"

She held up a card.

"TIME CARD! FREEZE THEM! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" she cried.

A flash of yellow-green light flooded the area as Tomoyo felt like something had just been viciously torn out of her body leaving her staggering and gasping. Her vision blurred as she rapidly blinked back tears, when it finally cleared again she could see her handiwork. A row of golems staring ahead with blank bottomless eyes, frozen in mid-motion, the very molecules themselves unmoving.

"Ouchie," Tomoyo moaned not liking the feel of immense magical drain.

"Are you all right?" Yue asked concernedly rushing to her side.

"I'm good," Tomoyo slowly straightened stretching her sore muscles as she stared at the frozen golems, "How long will this hold?"

"As long as you keep supplying power to the card," Yue sighed, "The Time card is very energy consuming, we better leave before your magic runs dry."

Tomoyo nodded and the two of them raced away, an army of frozen monsters staring after them with blank motionless eyes.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling was never big on nature but after this particular trek, she was all for cutting them all down and building nice concrete slabs over them. She glared down at the small gully below and swore at the top of her voice.

"Nasty," Ruby Moon noted.

"Why do we have to do the poison theme?" Meiling demanded, "Can't we do the I don't know… flying pixie theme?"  
"Don't be silly, pixies don't exist," Ruby Moon frowned, "I think…"

Meiling rolled her eyes and peered down at the small valley below from her perch on an out jutting rock. A veritable plague of snakes twisted and wiggled in the forest floor below, the sound of their hisses resounding through the damp air reverberating off trees and cliff walls until it filled the forest with a soft whisper like that of a tide racing across an expanse of golden sand.

"What do we do?" Meiling moaned.

"I really don't want to attack them because if they have that wacky magical immune system thing, it ain't going to end well," Ruby Moon instantly replied, "And I think Heilang would think to fill them with anti-freeze this time. So…"

"Fly over them?" the Asian Angel suggested.

Ruby Moon nodded up at the treetops.

"No way," she sighed, "There are some of them up there as well."

Meiling looked up and saw that the snakes weren't earthbound, in fact just as many clung to tree limbs and creeper vines overhead.

"I fly, they'll probably come down on us. It'll be raining snakes."

"Hallelujah," Meiling muttered dryly, "Okay, so what can we do?"

"Water."

"What?"

"Watery card, use it to sweep those snakes away."

"Oooo… fun," Meiling cheered instantly pulling the card out, "Effective and long range."

She threw the card up into the air and jabbed her sword at it.

"WATERY CARD!" she cried as the tip of the sword hit the card, rainbow coloured energy rippled out from the impact site, "SWEEP THOSE SNAKES AWAY! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Meiling watched in satisfaction as a huge torrent of freezing water was unleashed from the card, it swept down the ferny embankment hitting the swarm of snakes with thundering crash, the hiss of snakes mixed with the roar of water as the serpentine creatures clung desperately to the forest floor but soon succumbed to the turbulent flood. Meiling smirked as she watched scaly bodies become embroiled into raging river, glancing up at the Watery card who was hovering above her handiwork, Meiling moved onto the next phase of her attack.

"Drive down them the valley, away from here!" Meiling called.

The Watery nodded and gestured with her hands, an azure glowing gleaming off her skin. The river twisted in on itself forming a cyclonic whirlpool, the Watery frowned at the watery vortex and gestured again. It began to travel slowly down the length of gully, sweeping up trees and debris into its towering body.

"Open sesame, the path is clear," Meiling gave a small bow to Ruby Moon and swept her hand over the now thoroughly drenched but snake free valley.

"Show off," Ruby Moon muttered beginning the descent down into the forest floor.

Keeping a careful eye on the snakes still eyeing them from the treetops above, they trudged through the muddy ground occasionally slipping on the soaked clay. Suddenly when they were about halfway across the valley, an ear-piercing shriek filled the air.

Both women looked up and gaped in horror when they realised where the sound was coming from, the Watery card still floating in mid-air was bent over in pain, dark energy wracking her body. The tiny elemental sprite tried to fight the attack but it was all too much.

With a final shrill cry of pain, it shrank back into its card form and flew back into Meiling's hand. The Angel yelped as she felt the sting of the dark energy that still lingered on the card surface.

"Ouch!" she shook her head trying to rid herself of the pins-and-needles feeling, "What happened?'

"Heilang," Ruby Moon gritted her teeth, "Come on, let's get ou…"

Before she could even finish her sentence, something came roaring down the valley. Meiling blanched as the river she had sent away just before came crashing back at them. White frothed and furious, the river charged with deadly force ripping through the forest at them.

Wordlessly, Meiling and Ruby Moon sprinted across the valley heading towards higher-ground and hopefully safety but it was useless. The river seemed to rear up as if it was alive, relentless in its aim; desperately clinging onto a fragile tree Meiling could only watch on helpless, bracing herself as best as she possibly could for the impact.

It hit her like a truck, frigid water tore her hands away from the tree as the turbulent water tossed her wildly around. She tried desperately to kick her way back up to the surface but a fast flowing riptide grabbed her legs thrusting her back to into the dark watery depths.

A dark object borne and tossed by the current smacked her into her chest with painful force driving the air from her already battered lungs. She gasped in pain and sucked in a lungful of water in the process. Coughing, choking and drowning, Meiling tried to cling onto consciousness. She kicked furiously but surrounded by swirling currents, she didn't know if she was closer to the surface or just diving deeper into the watery abyss.

Her movements slowed as she felt coldness invade her body like a ravaging virus shutting everything down, she felt so tired, exhausted… weary.

Closing her eyes, Meiling gave up and let the coldness and darkness take her.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura shot the sky a wrathful look.

"Irony dutifully noted," Sakura muttered glumly.

Honestly, how much water can one rainforest have? Well, it seemed the answer was a lot. With every step she took, water would trail down from her sodden hair falling onto her shoulders before slowly trailing down onto her pants, from there the water droplets would slide downwards hitting her already saturated socks and finally pooling into the sole of her shoes.

Squelch.

Sakura did not like having cold feet.

Squelch.

Every time she took a step, her soaked socks would push against the drenched sole of her shoes with a loud squelch releasing a small pool of water. It nestled there for several seconds chilling the skin before being soaked up again by either fabric. The cycle repeated itself over and over and over until Sakura was pretty sure that Heilang could hear her coming from miles off.

Squelch.

"Stupid weather," Sakura glared up at the raven black sky peering through the dome of thorned vines above, "What's with the rain?"

Kerberos was not having the best time of his life either as a mystical creature belonging to the element of fire; suffice to say water was not his best friend.  
"You know you can divert the rain," Kerberos muttered as lightning flashed overhead.

A dull rumble shook the sky as the dark clouds unleashed another torrent of rain.

"ARGH!" Sakura cried in frustration.

The sky continued to dump rain on her as Sakura finally registered what Kerberos had said.

"REALLY?" she whirled around and stared at the guardian, flinging water around with her movements, "How?"

"The Rain card."

"Oh!" Sakura smacked her forehead, "God, I'm so slow sometimes! Rain card! Keep the rain away! Release and dispel!"

The tiny cloud-riding sprite appeared and winked at Sakura, the Angel smiled in satisfaction as raindrops stopped hitting them. Every time they neared Sakura or Kerberos, the Rain card would deflect them flinging off in different direction, it was as if Sakura or Kerberos repelled water.

"Finally, nice dryness," Sakura cheered.

The rain stopped.

"What?"

Kerberos sniffed the air and froze.

"Something is happening!"

"What?" Sakura demanded urgently.

As if to answer her, the sky rumbled and this time hail arrowed down from the skies. Sakura squeaked as tiny chips of ice pelted her, with each passing second the hail stones got bigger and bigger.

"Rain card! Return! Snow card! Release and dispel! Protect us!" Sakura cried as the hail stones grew to be the size of tennis balls.

As the Rain card had done before, the Snow card began repelling the hailstones away deflecting them from her mistress and Kerberos. But just as soon as Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, the hailing stopped.

"What?" Sakura was confused.

"Heilang."

"He's the one playing Storm?" Sakura growled in frustration, "Great, just great."

She shivered as she felt the cool whisper of wind on the back of her neck. She looked around in confusion wondering what the next change was going to be. It didn't take long.

The gentle zephyr dancing through her hair soon gained strength, a strong gust of wind almost knocked Sakura down but she managed to grab onto a tree trunk in time, steadying herself. Kerberos dug his claws into the ground tearing furrows into the dirt as the strong gusts became tempest gales.

"Snow card! Return to your power confined!" Sakura yelled seeing that the card was seconds away from being swept off by the wind.

The card returned back to her as Sakura clung onto the tree trunk with all her might as the wind railed and roared against her.

"I can't hold on!" Sakura screamed at Kerberos who wasn't having much luck either.

"Use the Shield card! Protect us!"

"Right," Sakura struggled to raise the wand above her head without it being blown away.

The winds were positively tornado force by now, more fragile plants were being torn up by their roots and tossed willy-nilly becoming dangerous debris in the swirling chaos. Sakura slowly managed to work herself into a position where she could call upon the Clow card.

"SHIELD CARD! PROTECT US! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

The now familiar protective wards sprang into being, deflecting both debris and wind as the dead air within the dome allowed Sakura and Kerberos to move freely around once more.

"Phew," Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, "Now what?"

Before Kerberos could answer, the sky above darkened and rumbled dangerously. A lance of lightning crashed down from the skies striking the dome. For a few chaotic seconds, the Shield card flickered. A barrage of debris flew in with deadly force; Kerberos instantly reacted incinerating the flying danger with his fire as Sakura concentrated reinforcing the card with her magic once more. It held but Heilang was far from finished, a swarm of grey thunderheads gathered overhead ready to strike down at them with more lightning bolts. The underbelly of the clouds glowed with concealed electricity illuminating the sky with pale blue light.

"The card won't hold for long," Sakura groaned as another up-rooted tree slammed into the barrier.

"The Thunder card," Kerberos whispered hurriedly, "Use it, it can absorb the lightning bolts."

Sakura nodded.

"Thunder card! Protect us from the lightning bolts! Release and dispel!"

The blue beast leapt from its card, the dull rumble of thunder overhead a pale imitation of the ferocious roar that burst from its throat. The thunderheads unleashed the barrage but the Thunder card merely looked up at the sky and glared at the incoming attack, there was a flash of white and the lightning bolts were dispersed becoming harmless sparks that fell to the ground and died out.

Sakura had no time to celebrate that small victory as the skies unleashed their next barrage: an avalanche of rain and hail. The Shield card was taking a pounding from the ice chips and heavy raindrops trying to hold itself together as wind and debris assailed it from all sides. Sakura gritted her teeth and concentrated with all her might, thrusting more magic into the wards, Kerberos could only watching on helplessly as the Angel fought with forces of nature.

Suddenly it all stopped. The wind died down as last few remaining drops of rain and balls of hail glided gently down to earth.

"What happened?" Sakura whispered not liking the strange silence.

"I don't know," Kerberos replied softly.

Sakura studied the aftermath of the storm, the ground was smothered under layer upon layers of glittering white hailstones, here and there battered tree limbs poked out from underneath the deluge, broken but not destroyed by the chaotic weather.

"He's give up?" Sakura suggest hopefully.

Kerberos snorted.

The clouds above were breaking up allowing pale shafts of light to poke through the canopy striking the forest floor; the sunlight became stronger and stronger and stronger…

"AHHHH!" Sakura screamed in pain as she was blinded by the brilliant glare of sunlight glittering off the hailstones.

She blinked furiously, tears flooding her eyes as she tried to clear her vision. This had happened to her before but on snowfields not in a rainforest for crying out loud! Snow glare, she even knew the name of it but she never suspected that it could happen with a thick layer of hail.

Sakura had to grudgingly admit Heilang was smart.

"Cunning bastard," she muttered under her breath.

Once her vision finally cleared, she looked around for any signs of danger. The sun was powerful; it beat down on her like skeins of golden fire enflaming her skin with its searing touch.

"Is it hot or is it just me?" Sakura panted.

"I'm a beast of fire and I'm getting uncomfortable," Kerberos moaned, "This is not natural."

"You think?"

Sakura could see the hailstones were melting, faster than was naturally possible. Ice became water, which turned to vapour soon the forest was as dry as tinder. Leafs began to wither and brown falling down from the canopy in a shower of death.

"What's he doing?" Sakura cried.

A bolt of lightning zipped down from the azure blue sky, Sakura and Kerberos stared in horror as it struck a tree. The whole plant, baked dry by the fierce sun, immediately burst into flames.

Red devoured green and brown leaving black in its wake before leaping gleefully to the next tree.

Sakura gulped.

They were facing an inferno.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Tomoyo looked around uneasily.

"This place gives me the creeps," she muttered, "Also the sudden urge to pray like hell."

Yue silently agreed with her even though his face betrayed none of his emotions. They had fought their way out from a particularly dense copse of wood only to stumble into what would be best described as an open graveyard. Bleached white bones lay scattered across a stony hard plateau, even as they walked more fragile remains cracked under foot.

Tomoyo could see what were distinctly human remains, skulls that unnerved her with staring blank eyes, hands stretched out to the sky as though they had died praying to the heavens. But there were also animals remains, huge ivory bones that could've only come from elephants lay here and there, white towers amongst a sea of white death.

The mist was also doing nothing to relieve Tomoyo of her fears; it clung to everything like mournful ghosts haunting this field of ghastly remains. It felt like cool fingers were lingering on her skin, the coldness of the ethereal veil chilling her very soul.

"What is this place?" Tomoyo whispered, her voice sounding uncomfortably loud in the dead silence.

"I do not now nor do I wish to find out," Yue replied shortly.

Tomoyo grimaced as something crunched underfoot.

"You think Heilang is trying to gross us out?" Tomoyo asked suddenly shuddering as the damp coldness of mist settled over her like a ghostly shawl, "Cause, I've got to say kudos to him. It's working."

Silence descended onto the ghastly boneyard as Angel and guardian trudged through the seemingly endless sea of bleached white bones.

Tomoyo shivered.

"God, it's freezing," she whispered.

Yue stopped right in front of her, lost in her own thoughts Tomoyo almost stumbled right into him.

"What is it?" she asked concerned.

Yue's eyes were darting around suspiciously, a small frown gracing his face as a gentle breeze rustled his pristine white hair.

"There's something wr… OOF!"

Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock as Yue was sent sprawling by an invisible force. Was it just her or had the mist gotten even denser? Tomoyo had no time to ponder his as she felt cold fingers slip around her arm.

"ARGH!" she tried to break free but the invisible hands that had assaulted Yue before now wrapped itself around her arm and with supernatural force strength her across the boneyard.

She landed with the crunch of bones breaking beneath her, scratched and battered Tomoyo crawled to her feet.

"What the?" she whispered.

Crack.

Her head snapped to the left as an invisible fist struck her across the face.

"Hang on!" Yue cried.

He blasted a stream of crystals at her attacker but it had no effect on her attacker. Tomoyo hurriedly flung herself onto the ground to avoid getting shredded by the magical attack. Yue growled in frustration and leapt towards her but was batted from the air by spectral hands. He landed painfully on the hard ground but had no time to recover as the bones lying around him rose into the air, his eyes widened in shock as they crashed around him, sharp edges digging into hard rock.

"YUE!" Tomoyo cried, watching in horror as a cage of bleached bones gathered around him.

Elephant tusks became curving walls as bones continued to fly towards him, moulded by invisible hands they were shaped into a rough cube sealing Yue within. A femur bone slammed into place sealing the last gap and plunging him into darkness. From within the bony tomb, Yue gritted his teeth and tried blasting through the structure but his magical attack merely splashed against ghastly wall and died out.

Tomoyo desperately tried to help him, trying to bring her mirror to bear but she was spun around roughly by her unseen attacker. She was slammed to the hard rocky ground, bones digging into her body as she struggled to get back up onto her feet but a powerful force crashed into her back pinning her back down.

The Japanese Angel struggled against the vice-like grip clamping her back, she bucked and thrashed but still it held on.

With the mirror pressed against her chest, its reflective surface facing down, she had no means to retaliate. Unless…

She concentrated.

"Get off!" Tomoyo snarled as her plan came into action.

A beam of pale energy burst from the mirror surface striking the rocky ground, the force of the energy crashing against hard rock propelled Tomoyo upwards into the air freeing her from her ghostly bonds. Spinning around in mid-air, Tomoyo shot another beam at the grisly prison that entombed Yue and smiled in satisfaction as she saw some of the bones knocked loose.

She landed nimbly onto the ground and waited, senses on high alert, waiting for the next attack to come.

It didn't take long.

Tomoyo gasped in shock and backed away hurriedly in horror as bits and pieces of bone began flying into the air. Like a gruesome jigsaw puzzle, these flying remains began fusing together. A yellowed skull sat perched on top of a ribcage that wasn't even human, arms and legs began forming, some grossly oversized others ending in talons. Tomoyo raised her mirror and blasted the deformed skeleton with energy but it barely phased it. It began stumbling forwards on its feet, its jaw opening and closing wildly. Another leg jutted out from tis stomach, violently kicking the air. It had three arms, two on the left and one on the right. The left arms all ended in talons whilst the right was made of bones that could've only come from elephants or something just as large. Skulls were embedded in its empty ribcage, their jaws opening wide to reveal broken stumps of black and yellow teeth.

"Oh god," Tomoyo blasted it again, "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

For something that ungainly and awkward-looking, it moved incredibly fast. Tomoyo was thrown backwards as it cannonballed into her. The mirror was knocked free from her jarred hand, cart wheeling through the air before landing amongst a pile of bones with a gentle thump. Tomoyo looked at her only weapon in horror but had no time to dwell on her loss as rough taloned hands grabbed her cheek and forced her to look up into the monster's skeletal face.

Black fire burned in its eyes, the glare chilling Tomoyo to her very soul. She squirmed trying to break free but it was strong, casually lifting Tomoyo and slamming her back into the ground with nary a pause. The air was driven from Tomoyo's body leaving her gasping, lying there her whole body trembling with pain and staring up into the monster's ghoulish face Tomoyo felt the first panicky twinges of fear.

"Get away from her," a cold voice cut through her sheer panic.

The monster was blasted away from her by a rain of blue crystals, Tomoyo sucked in a deep breath soothing her burning lungs as she looked up at her saviour.

"Thanks," she croaked to Yue.

Yue nodded distractedly, the bulk of his attention on the skeleton monster he had just attacked. The crystals had done their damage cutting the monster's spinal cord and shattering part of its arm but whatever dark magic had possessed those bones were far from finish. With a soundless roar, it leapt at Yue crashing into the guardian. The two flew across the boneyard, landing in a rain of shattered bones. Yue seemed to have the upper hand managing to crawl to his feet first. Coolly he aimed an attack at the monster's face shattering the skull with a hail of crystals. The monster was still going, lashing out with one foot hitting Yue above the knees, the guardian went down as the monster pounced on him. Tomoyo crawled towards the mirror, every part of her body screaming in pain but she fought on.

She was almost there; she just had to stretch out and gra…

"BAM!"

The invisible attacker had returned slamming Tomoyo down onto the ground pinning her down. She was roughly turned over until she found herself staring up into the sky, the mist had returned forming into a dense cloud around her. It seemed to condense forming a rough human-shape bent over her prone body. Tomoyo could just make out a smoky outline, ethereal arms outstretched.

One ghostly hand settled over her jaw, an iron-grip forced them open as Tomoyo struggled helplessly but the wraith bent over her tightened its grip forcing a whimper of pain from her battered body.

She felt so cold…

The mist seemed to strengthen as Tomoyo grew weaker and weaker…

So cold…

She couldn't even feel her limbs anymore just a dull lethargy.

She felt something escape her mouth, something as weightless and insubstantial as smoke. It poured from her mouth escaping into the open air before being sucked up by the misty figure pinning her down.

So cold…

So tired…

Too tried to fight…

To move…

To breathe…

To live…

Suddenly her eyes snapped open and they were no longer pale lavender but pure darkness.

"Enough!" she snapped.

But her voice was not her own.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Ruby Moon dove downwards through the darkness and the cold searching, seeking, hoping…

There!

Grabbing onto Meiling's arms, the butterfly guardian began kicking back up to the surface powering through the water even as it tried to sweep her away. The river raged and thrashed with unmatchable fury trying to reclaim its victim back into its watery embrace.

It was nature in all its terrible might.

But Ruby Moon was the mistress of the elements.

Raging water and terrible torrents had no more effect on her than rain drops splashing harmlessly against her skin, ploughing through the riptides Ruby Moon sent her magic outwards in widening ripples trying to calm the river's fury. The dark magic laced within the water tried to resist but Ruby Moon drew on the water's only majestic power and thrust it at the spells powering this unnatural rage, light scythed through darkness and the water was still.

Whipping her wings around, Ruby Moon propelled herself through the air until she punched through the still water surface and burst into moist jungle air. Gliding towards the riverbank, Ruby Moon gently placed Meiling down onto the damp earth.

"Meiling?" she shook the Angel gently.

The girl was pale and still.

"Damn it," Ruby Moon hissed.

Placing her hands on Meiling's chest, she began pressing down trying to restart her breathing.

"Come on," Ruby Moon snarled, "Wake up damn it!"

Meiling began coughing wildly, her body thrashing as a stream of water burst from her mouth. Choking and coughing on the water, she tried to sit up and froze as the world around her spun violently.

"Calm down," Ruby Moon whispered softly, "Just take it easy."

Meiling coughed again expelling the last traces of water from her lungs once that was done she wearily brushed her soaked hair away from her face.

"What happened?" she asked hoarsely.

"You almost drowned."

Meiling turned around and glanced at the now placidly flowing river before turning back to Ruby Moon.

"You know what?" Meiling groaned, "I rather do the venom theme."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"Rain card! Release and dispel! Snow card! Try to stop the fire!"

Snow and rain pounded the raging inferno but it had little effect, the two Clow spirits were soon overwhelmed by the sheer strength of the roaring flames and were forced to retreat back into their cards form flying back to Sakura.

Inside the Shield card, the temperature had risen sharply. With sweat rolling down her face in steady streams, Sakura looked around frantically searching for avenues of escape. But all she saw was red and yellow flames devouring the forest trees with demonic glee.

"Oh god," Sakura turned to look at Kerberos, "Any ideas?"

"Pray?"

"Not helping," Sakura muttered.

"This fire is too strong. There's too much dark magic in it," Kerberos growled in frustration, "I don't see how we can stop it!"

Sakura stared at Kerberos, an idea forming inside her head.

"Wait, this dark magic… but it's still fire right?"

"What?" Kerberos was confused.

Sakura gritted her teeth in frustration.

"This inferno. It's still made of fire right. I mean it's not pure magic is it?"

"It is still made of fire but…" Kerberos trailed off, "How's that supposed to help us."

"Easy," Sakura winked at him, "STORM CARD! SURROUND THE FLAMES! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

"STORM CARD?" Kerberos yelped, "That's just going to whip up the flames or spread them!"

Sakura smirked.

"Watch and learn, Simba," she teased, "NOW!"

The Storm card whipped around the ring of fire; grey wind trailing in its wake. Around and around she flew rising up into the sky with each completely cycle, Kerberos stared at the flying card as it summoned a roaring tornado around the inferno.

"What the?" he gaped at the fire as it began to die out.  
Sakura smiled victoriously before turning to the winged lion.

"Fire needs three things to burn: heat, fuel and air," Sakura informed him counting off each point with her fingers, "In the eye of a tornado, there is no air… all of it has been sucked out. And since the inferno is still fire and not pure magic…"

"It needed air," Kerberos finished off.

"Bingo. No air. No fire."

The Storm card continued to intensify the strength of the tornado as it tore at the forest around them; the inferno had died down to mere glowing embers.

"Alright stop!" Sakura commanded.

The tornado faded as Sakura returned the Storm card to her and dispersed the Shield at the same time.

Looking around at her handiwork, Sakura smiled brilliantly.

"Come on, let's go," she motioned with her head.

She jogged into rest of the forest as Kerberos quickly followed leaving behind a patch of burnt out land surrounded by storm battered trees.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"Enough!"

The mist figure seemed to freeze in mid-motion. Tomoyo glared up at it, her eyes now ebony black without a trace of white in those dark orbs.

"You're a just a pale shadow compared to what I am," Tomoyo snarled, her voice low and guttural, "I am beyond you. Beyond the scope of your pathetic understanding. You are a spirit summoned back from the dead. I am death. Touch me and mine again and I will crush you. Now… LEAVE!"

A trail of smoke seem to seep out of the mist figure's body and plunge back into Tomoyo's mouth, the mist vanished borne away by a gentle breeze as Tomoyo gasped the feeling returning back to her limbs. She blinked and her eyes went back to their pale lavender. She looked around wildly.

"What the hell?" she muttered.

A cry of pain drew her attention to Yue where he was still struggling with the skeleton monster.

"YUE!" she flung herself across the ground grabbing her mirror with both hands.

Whirling around, she aimed and fired. A blast of energy shattered the monster's legs as Yue's crystal attack tore through its chest. The monster fell apart, bones falling to the ground as Tomoyo slowly got up.

"Are you okay?" Yue asked hurriedly.

"Fine," Tomoyo frowned, "That's weird…"

"What?"

"I was under attack and then everything goes blank…" Tomoyo looked around slowly, "I came to again and then… it was gone. Did you see what happened?"

Yue shook his head.

"I was too busy fighting the beast," he explained dryly.

Tomoyo shook herself.

"Weird," she looked around at the boneyard, "Come on, let's get out of here."

After what seemed like another eternity of trudging through the sea of bones, they finally made it back into the lush green forest heading towards their final destination: the power well where Heilang awaited them.

Tomoyo shivered and realised that whatever horrors the forest had thrown up at them… they would be nothing compared to what was coming.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Mini-Meiling shivered as the sound of demonic screaming became louder, more pronounced.

"What was that?" Nadeshiko frowned looking around slowly.

Just a few minutes ago, both of them had felt a surge of dark magic ripple through the Limbo.

"Bad," Mini-Meiling whispered, "That was the bad thing."

"The bad thing?" Nadeshiko was confused, "Where did it come from?"

"From within."

"Huh?"

Mini-Meiling looked up at Nadeshiko and the child-like innocence was gone replaced by weary wisdom.

"Sometimes the danger is from within."

"Within?" Nadeshiko stared down at the little girl, "What do you mean? What's within?"

"Evil."

Nadeshiko opened her mouth to ask another question but was cut off as the whole Limbo shook. A solemn sound like that of a bell tolling filled the air followed by a symphony of soprano voices singing in perfect synchronisation. For a few seconds the demonic cries that had permeated the Limbo subsided as the singers' voices grew in volume swelling into a breathtaking crescendo of heavily chords.

"Heaven and hell," Nadeshiko whispered, "Both are spilling into the Limbo."

"The light and the fire," Mini-Meiling shivered, "Mommy Nadeshiko?"

"Yeah?"

"Will the chosen stop the black wolf?"

"Heilang?"

"Yeah, the black wolf."

Nadeshiko sighed.

"It's hard to tell. They've been battered and hurt but…" Nadeshiko trailed off, "If there's one thing I know about my daughter and her fiends."

She stared off into the distance.

"They never give up."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"I feel like giving up," Meiling moaned stumbling wearily through the forest, "How far is it to the power well?"

"Close now," Ruby Moon murmured, "Very close."

"Yay," Meiling moaned fidgeting uncomfortably in her soaked clothes, "No more trees."

Ruby Moon nodded distractedly.

Meiling sighed as she ran her fingers through her still damp hair; she frowned as she felt something land on top of her hand. Plucking it away, she brought it around to her face and stared at it.

It was a leaf: fragile gold stretched across delicate brown veins, Meiling frowned.

"That's weird," she muttered.

"What's weird?"

"It is autumn or something?" Meiling held out the leaf for Ruby Moon to see, "You only tend to see these around fall or winter or something."

Ruby Moon froze upon seeing the leaf.

"Rainforests don't do that," she whispered, "Most are in the tropics where seasonal changes barely affect them."

"So it's not nature…" Meiling trailed off and sighed, "Magic."

She paused, thinking about it.

"Hmm… autumn leafs… not that scary," Meiling shrugged, "But hey it's not a venom or a drown-me-in-a-river theme so I'm happy."

More leafs began to falling from the canopy above, showering the two women with dancing gold and brown with the occasional slash of brilliant red weaved within.

"It's very pretty," Meiling noted.

Ruby Moon shot her a strange look.

"What?" Meiling protested, "It is."

"I doubt Heilang would give us a free dancing leaf show for nothing."

"You're right," Meiling brightened, "Unless he's giving up!"

"Right… because we've done so much to stop him?" Ruby Moon demanded, "Are you sure there wasn't something in the water?"

"Then it must've affected you too," Meiling retorted.

Ruby Moon looked up to regard the cascade of brown-veined gold and red, her ruby eyes worried at this unexplained magical phenomena.

"Brown leafs," Ruby Moon said quietly, "Doesn't just happen in fall… it also happens when a tree is…"

She stopped, her eyes widening.

"Is what?" Meiling demanded.

"Dying."

Meiling's eyes widened as well.

"Oh cr…"

Both women looked up as a peculiar sound filled the air, it was like a snapping sound but slower… more torturous and mournful. Something fell through the canopy of leaves, something heavy and dying. Meiling hurriedly jumped out of the way as a tree branch easily the length of her body crashed down to earth, its jagged edge embedding itself into the ground. Meiling and Ruby Moon stared at the quivering ballast in shock, a dead silence filling the air. Gold and red leaves continued to dance down from the trees as the two women tried to absorb what they had just seen.

"Still not a venom theme," Meiling whispered, "It can't be that bad… can it?"

Another sound filled the air, Meiling and Ruby Moon looked up in time to see three dark shapes plummet down to the earth. Meiling managed to dodge one immense branch but was clipped on the shoulder by another. A scream of pain was ripped from her throat as fire rolled up her arm and through her body before subsiding into a dull numbed ache, gasping loudly Meiling looked, her eyes widening in horror as she saw the third branch plunge through the air towards her.

"DUCK!" Ruby Moon cried firing a rain of crystals.

The massive branch was obliterated, smoking wooden splinters flying everywhere. Meiling slowly crawled to her feet her body trembling with pain.

"Let's get out of here," she whimpered gently probing her bruised shoulder.

They took off at a run, through the shower of falling leafs, their ears cocked for the tell-tale sound that heralded the next barrage of falling debris.

Meiling threw herself to the side as another branch, this way easily twice her size and weight crashed down onto the ground ramming the dirt where she had been standing just a few minutes before.

Another ear-splitting groan filled the air as Meiling looked around hurriedly waiting for the next incoming hazard, to her left Ruby Moon had to throw herself into a clump of bushes to avoid being crushed to death by a piece of rotting wood that fell from the sky with incredible speed and deadly aim.

Meiling raced over to her.

"Are you okay?" she yelled.

Ruby Moon looked up at her.

"WATCH OUT!" she screamed.

Meiling whirled around and gasped as she an immense tree, its woody limbs stretching up to the azure sky above, begin to fall. Its base had been rotted through and with no support, the ancient tree soon became a deadly weapon.

Fractures began to zigzag up the trunk as the sound of wood splintering filled the air; with agonising slowness it began to keel over slowly at first but picking up speed as its centre of gravity shifted. Meiling looked around wildly but there was no room to run, the tree trunk was easily ten metres long in diameter. It was simply too big, no matter where she ran it would still crush her beneath its wieldy bulk.

Gritting her teeth, Meiling raised the Clow sword and prepared to do battle. The base was breaking up by now, the tree going into free fall, its top ripping through the canopy. Leaf and branches, knocked free by the tree, began to rain down around her. Ruby Moon was knocked out cold by a direct hit in the head but Meiling ignored her as she glared up at the falling tree.

"WOOD CARD!" she yelled, "RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura stared at the forest around them and swore. All around them came the whirring of a thousand tiny wings, the clatter of caprice grinding against each other and the crunching of a million jaws. A sea of tiny black eyes stared at them, waiting for their first move.

"Locusts," Sakura shivered.

The greenery around them had been devoured until only dying limbs were left. The air was filled with these swarming insects, the ground just as covered and on every tree, every crawl space available the insects chirped and waited.

"Kerberos, care to jump in with your flamethrower mouth anytime soon?" Sakura whimpered.

Kerberos glared at her before turning to the plague of locusts and opening his mouth, all of them instantly took to the air. A blast of fire incinerated every locust in its path but it barely made a dent in the overall numbers. Sakura's eyes widened in horror as some zipped around the fire's path and headed straight towards them.

She reacted instantly.

"STORM CARD! BLOW THEM BACK! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Sakura cried.

A cyclone of grey wind emerged sucking up locusts up into its towering body, Sakura smiled in satisfaction as between the fire and the wind, all the locusts trying to reach them were stopped.

"Hah! Take that!" she cried.

The locusts began to swarm around them once more but this time no even trying to penetrate the barrage of elemental attacks, they fell on their dead companions feasting on their dead bodies as Sakura and Kerberos looked on with morbid curiosity. As they gouged and feasted, their body began to swell and grow.

"Eww," Sakura muttered, "Gross."

The locusts began turning on each other, the stronger ones eating the weaker, in a hideous parody of the 'eat or be eaten' rule. Sakura soon realised that they had some good news and some bad news.

The good? There weren't as many locusts as before.

And like many times before in her life, the good didn't outweigh the bad.

The bad? The remaining locusts were huge and seemed fire and wind proof.

"ARRGGGHHHH!" Sakura cried as the handful of remaining locusts, now about the size of small children, brushed past the flames and roaring tornado and charged straight towards them, mouth parts crunching the air loudly.

"THUNDER CARD!" Sakura yelled, "RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Kerberos shot mouthfuls of fire at the locusts but it only served to hamper rather than destroy them. A bolt of crackling electricity leapt from the tip of the Star wand and struck three of the locusts wrapping them up in orbs of blue static. Within the spheres, they began spinning around wildly, current coursing through their body. Smoke began billowing out of the writhing bodies before they exploded showering the surrounding forest with burnt remains and thick yellow ooze. Sakura grimaced as she felt it splashed her body.

"Eck," she muttered disdainfully.

But there were still about a dozen of those massive locusts streaking through the air towards them, gritting her teeth she directed her next blast at the biggest one succeeding in stunning it. It fell to the ground; its body crackling with electricity but it didn't explode like the previous three.

"What the?" Sakura shook her wand wondering if something was broken.

"No," Kerberos saw what she was doing, "These creatures they're building up resistances to whatever we are throwing at them."

The Angel wilted.

"Oh man," she whimpered.

She tried blasting a few more locusts but each time she struck, the electric bursts had smaller effects on the armoured insects. She threw another bolt at one of them but this time the locusts just charged straight through the blast and kept coming.

"Now what?" Sakura demanded.

"Wait," Kerberos aimed a fire blast not at the now completely fire-resistant locusts but at a nearby tree.

The fire tore straight through its trunk sending the tree toppling, it managed to crush at least four of the locusts as it thundered to the ground but the others merely flew around it or even more spectacularly chew right through the wood. Sakura gaped at the sight as woodchips flew everywhere, the locust's mandibles working furiously as the wood splintered under the pressure of its jaws.

"Oh man," she turned to Kerberos, "Now what do we do?"

"Fight or flight?"

Sakura pretended to think for about two seconds.

"Flight."

Kerberos nodded as the locusts continued pumping their wings cutting down the distance between them.

"Call the Fly card."

Sakura instantly obeyed.

"Fly card! Give your wings unto me! Release and dispel!"

A pair of wings sprouted from her back in a blaze of light, Sakura gave them an experimental flap smiling in joy as her feet left the ground.

"Now," Kerberos gestured with his head, "The power well is that way."

Sakura looked at the indicated direction and gulped seeing that the locusts were blocking their way.

"Ready?"

"What? What's the plan?"

"We try to outfly them."

Sakura groaned. Kerberos ignored her as he spread his wings and took flight, Sakura following right behind him. They charged straight at the locusts, Sakura grimacing as she saw their grotesque faces close up.

"NOW! VEER TO THE LEFT!"

Sakura tilted her body and whipped her wings around, shooting off to the left as the locust swarm charged by barely missing her. Kerberos whipped around to the right as they sailed around the plague of whirling wings, it took several seconds for the locusts to realise that they had missed their prey but they soon gave chase devouring whatever foliage was their in way. Sakura and Kerberos sailed into the thickest copses as possible, folding their wings to avoid breaking them against hard trunks, the locusts just metres behind them.

With adrenaline pumping away in her body, Sakura find her fear soon left her.

"WOOHOO!" she cried suddenly give her wings an extra pump, "COME AND GET US!"

Soaring through the trees, the two dived and swooped as ravenous mouths chewed up the forest behind them.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

They were under attack.

A barrage of stones, rotten fruits and branches were hurled at them with deadly accuracy, Tomoyo was forced to take refuge behind a clump of trees as a hail of debris slammed into the trunks tearing gashes in the thick bark.

"What is Heilang on?" Tomoyo ranted screaming at Yue who was crouched beside her, "Honestly! CRAZED MONKEYS?"

Yue shrugged as he kept his eyes on their attackers, a troop of ferocious monkeys with glowing green eyes. They hooted and called loudly to each other as they swung through the trees, flinging whatever they could get their paws on at them. Tomoyo had already gotten whacked in the head with what appeared to be a rotting melon and aside from the stinging ache that had brought, she felt uncomfortably sticky.

She peered around the tree but had to quickly retreat as a large stone sailed past. Yue tried to blast some of them down but they were too nimble in the trees, easily dancing around the crystal blasts.

Tomoyo aimed and fired a beam of energy but that too proved uselessly as they all leapt away.

"Argh!" Tomoyo yelled disgustedly, "Stupid monkeys!"

She turned to Yue.

"Make a break for it?"

The guardian nodded.

"Count of three… one… two… THREE!"

The human and guardian dashed from the trees ducking and zigzagging as they went, the monkeys' missiles barely missing them. Tomoyo threw herself to the side as a jagged tip branch zipped through the air narrowly missing her; she instantly flipped back up onto her feet taking off again through the scrubland as more missiles arrowed towards her.

"ARGH!"

Tomoyo stumbled over awkwardly, her leg throbbing with pain as a chunk of rock glanced off her left ankle. Hitting the ground, she instantly rolled into a clump of bushes hiding behind the meagre protection as she waited for the pain in her leg to subside. Yue was instantly by her side, helping her up with one hand as he blasted incoming barrages away with the other.

"There's too many of them," he muttered, his sharp eyes managing to make out vague silhouettes swinging through the trees around them, "They're trying to circle us."

"Wait," Tomoyo held up her mirror, "Can any of the cards help?"

"I don't think there's an anti-monkey card," Yue snapped.

"No need to get grumpy," Tomoyo muttered glancing through her stack of Clow cards, "Wait."

She held one of them up for Yue to see.

"The Voice?" Yue asked incredulously, "What are you going to do talk to them?"

"Nope," Tomoyo smiled at him mischievously even as flying debris rained down around them, "Voice card, duplicate the roar of a tiger! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Rings of pink light rippled out from the glowing card surface moving at supersonic speed causing the air itself to distort as a booming roar filled the air. The monkeys in the trees above began screeching wildly in panic as Tomoyo smirked, Yue looked around in surprise as the constant downpour of projectiles stopped.

"Tigers are monkeys' natural predators," Tomoyo explained with a wink, "I don't care how possessed these things are but I bet you they're still scared of their enemies."

"That's great but it won't last forever," Yue reminded her, "They won't be fooled for much longer."

"Don't worry," Tomoyo winked, "Now for phase two of my plan… SLEEP CARD! PUT THEM TO SLEEP! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Even as the Voice continue to generate thundering roars, the tiny Sleep sprite emerged from its card zipping around the tree tops with amazing agility, leaving behind a glittering trail of sparkling blue dust that settled over the panicked primates. One by one, the dust took effect plunging the animals into the peaceful realm of deep sleep. Tomoyo sniggered wildly as it started raining monkeys, sleeping causing them to lose grip on the tree limbs they had clung onto, furry bodies began to fall from the trees hitting the earth with dull thuds that resounded through the forest.

"And mission complete," Tomoyo grinned smugly at Yue's shocked face.

"That was…" the guardian trailed off, "… a unique plan."

"I'm sure you meant to say brilliant, fantastic and ingenious," Tomoyo smiled sweetly at him as she retraced the two cards she had summoned.

Instantly the jungle was plunged back into silence as the Voice card disappeared. Stepping over a fallen monkey, Tomoyo looked back at Yue.

"How far now?"

"It should be just beyond that clump of trees," Yue pointed at the clump he was talking about.

Nodding, Tomoyo jogged towards the direction he had indicated pushing through the dense greenery. As the last few branches were pushed away, Tomoyo saw their destination and gasped in shock.

"Holy sweet mother of sugary goods," she babbled dumbly staring up at the structure standing right in front of her in shock.

Even the temple at the Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan paled in comparison to this, it was massive, towering above the nearby trees as it stretched up to the sky. Gargoyles jutted out from the stonewalls at the irregular intervals, their scowling countenance scorning all those who travelled below, a set of broken stairs led to an immense cavernous black doorway that led to whatever laid within.

"The others," Tomoyo looked around, "Are they here?"

Yue shook his head. Tomoyo frowned, biting her lip as the fearful questions filled her mind.

"Come on guys… what's taking you so long?"

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"WAH!" Sakura sharply veered to the right, the locust pursuing her zipping past chewing away at trees with its fast moving jaw parts.

Sakura winced as saliva coated wood splinters splattered her clothes.

"I am so burning these," Sakura muttered disgustedly.

Kerberos was burning the forest around them, trying to stop the locusts or at least confuse them as thick smoke filled the air. As one, he and Sakura whirled around and began speeding through the trees again, the sound of whirring wings and snapping mandibles ringing through the air behind them.

They burst through a thicket of dense foliage and seemed to enter a whole new world. Sakura gasped in amazement at the sight of thousands of gold and red leaves dancing elegantly to the forest floor, carpeting the dirt with a rich tapestry of fall colours.

"What is this?" she whispered, "It's beautiful."

"Sakura," Kerberos growled urgently, his sensitive ears picking up the sound of clacking caprice.

It was getting louder and louder with each passing second.

"Oh right," Sakura shook her self before taking flight again.

As she flew she took in the sights hurtling past below her, she frowned seeing immense tree branches some easily the size of Kerberos sticking out of the earth, jagged stumps tearing gouges into the soil.

"What the hel…" she looked up, "WAHHH!"

She hurriedly banked to the left narrowly missing a massive tree trunk, flapping her wings lazily she managed to just float there gliding on a gentle thermal as she tried to calm her thundering heart rate down. She stared at the immense column of wood she had just managed to avoid hitting, inwardly focusing on slowing her breathing down so she wouldn't choke on her every breath. It was only when she was breathing normally again, she realised that the tree was sitting at a peculiar angle.

"What the?" she dove down through the canopy, Kerberos yelling at her to keep flying.

As she was just flying through the thickest section, she heard a familiar voice talking loudly.

"Ruby? Are you alright?"

"MEILING!" Sakura swooped down to the forest floor landing beside her friend. Meiling jumped.

"SAKURA!" she gave her friend a brief hug, "What's with the angel look?"

Sakura shrugged and stared down at Ruby Moon, who seemed knocked out.

"What happened?"

Meiling sighed.

"Tree began falling," she gestured at something behind Sakura.

Sakura turned around and gaped at the sight before her, the tree she had almost ran seemed to have snapped off at the base and would've crushed everything in its path if it wasn't for the jungle of vines that had entangled itself around its trunk securing it to various other nearby trees.

"Ruby Moon warned me about it then she got knocked out by a falling branch," Meiling finished.

"Is she alright?"

"Ruby Moon is fine," the guardian's eyes snapped open, "Hello Sakura, Kerberos."

The lion beast landed beside Sakura and gave his companion a small nod.

"We better hurry, they're closing in," he warned Sakura.

"What's closing in?" Meiling asked.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but the sound of ferocious wings beating through the air and ravenous mouths chewing through wood answered for her.

"Argh!" Meiling yelped as she saw the super-sized locusts.

"They're fire resistant," Sakura supplied helpfully.

"Man, just like the spiders," Meiling groaned.

"Spiders?"

Kerberos turned to Meiling.

"Hop on," he growled.

"What?"

He smiled at them.

"I've got a plan."

"Uh oh," Sakura whispered.

Meiling hesitantly mounted Kerberos's back clutching on his mane tightly as the winged lion took to the air, Ruby Moon and Sakura just inches behind him.

"Distract them," Kerberos commanded, "Get them under the tree. Once they do, Meiling retract the Wood card."

"Oooo… instant fly swat," Sakura smirked, "I like."

The locusts zipped towards them as Kerberos took off disappearing deeper into the forest, Sakura and Ruby Moon stayed where they were waiting for the locusts to come to them. By now there were only five of them left but staring into their large dull black eyes and their forever moving mandibles, Sakura felt five was five too many. Angel and guardian took off speeding towards the entangled tree dodging around thick vines with amazing grace and agility. The locusts whirred through the air behind them, chewing through the vines and unwittingly helping the Angels and their guardians.

With an extra burst of speed, Sakura and Ruby Moon zipped out from under the tree and darted into the forest, leaving the locusts behind. From somewhere off to their left, they heard Meiling yelling.  
"WOOD CARD! DESTROY THE VINES!" she bellowed.

The vines holding onto the tree instantly disappeared, bereft of support the tree instantly crashed to the ground crushing the locusts in the process as it obliterated everything else that it happened to fall on. The resulting shockwave shook the whole forest.

"Ew," Sakura muttered catching sight of one of the locust's twitching remains.

"Come on," Kerberos called, "The power well is close."

With them flying through the trees, it didn't take them long to reach their destination. All four of them gaped at the sight that lay before them.

"God," Sakura gasped.

Meiling winced.

"We've got to invade that?" she demanded.

Further exclamations of shock and horror were cut off as a familiar voice called to them.

"MEILING! SAKURA!"  
The two Angels whirled around.

"TOMOYO!"

Mizuki Kaho bit her lip as another raging headache assaulted her temple. The pain only subsided when she sat down and placed a cool hand against her damp forehead.

Her senses told her that something was wrong with the world; she could feel the pulses of dark magic thrumming through the air.

She could feel greed and hatred and fury.

But most of all she could feel the fire.

An ancient fire, locked away, forgotten by most but age had not quenched it. It still smouldered waiting to be stoked up again into a roaring inferno.

The dark magic coursing through the earth now fed it… nourishing it.

And once it had regained its full strength, it will burn the world.

Burn the world until there was nothing left but ashes.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Tomoyo ran to her two friends but came to a skidding halt as she took in their appearances.

"What happened to you guys?" she asked worriedly.

"Spiders," Meiling muttered.

"Giant toad thingy," Sakura added dryly.

"Snakes and drowning."

"Crazy weather and inferno."

"Falling trees."

"Giant locusts."

Tomoyo stared at them.

"Oh."

"You?" they both asked at the same time, similar expression on their faces.

Tomoyo shrugged.

"Golems, boneyard, walking skeletons, weird mists and crazed monkeys," she remarked casually.

"Fun?"

"Not at the time."

They all fell silent.

It was Meiling who spoke up first.

"Okay," Meiling turned away to stare at the temple, "Now what?"

"We charge in," Sakura said grimly, "And finish this once and for all."

"Alright," Tomoyo nodded, "Let's…"

She took a step forwards. Thousands of thorny vines burst from the earth surrounding the temple in a protective dome as Tomoyo wilted at the sight.

"… go…" she trailed off.

"Not vines again," Meiling groaned staring at the barrier of writhing plants.

"Just as long as they don't grab us and fling us again I'll be happy," Sakura muttered.

"It seems Heilang is not done toying with us," Yue said dryly.

"You think?" Ruby Moon muttered.

The Angels turned around to study their guardians.

"Okay, you've got a plan?" Tomoyo asked, "Cause I sure hope so."

"Sure," Ruby Moon began, "It goes something like this, we… DOWN!"

"What?" Sakura muttered.

"DOWN!" Ruby Moon leapt forwards and tackled the girls to the ground as a dark shape dropped down from the sky, snarling in rage as it just avoided tearing the girls apart with its long talons.

Yue and Kerberos gasped as they studied their latest threat. A black armoured panther, the same size of Kerberos, glared at them with brilliant blue eyes. From its back sprouted a pair of magnificent blue and black butterfly wings that flapped through the air lazily as it circled the sky above them waiting for them to make the next move.

"What the?" Meiling gasped, "That thing is like a crazy version of you guys."

As if to prove her point, the panther-beast opened its mouth and a huge beam of magenta energy blasted forwards. Yue and Kerberos leapt away as it hit the earth, exploding on impact and tearing a smoking crater into the dirt.

"Crazy, powerful version," Meiling amended hurriedly.

Ruby Moon fired a stream of crystals at the winged beast.

"What is that?" Sakura gasped.

"Spinnel," Kerberos answered, "One of Clow Reed's earlier works that got corrupted by Heilang. He was sealed along with the Void card inside the fourth book."

"SPINNEL?" the three Angels yelped.

They had no time to dwell on this new revelation as Spinnel whirled around in mid-air and fired an energy beam at them, the girls flung themselves away as the energy struck the thorny barrier protecting the temple tearing a large smoking hole in it. The Angels' eyes widened in shock as they surveyed the damage.

"GO!" Ruby Moon yelled, "We'll handle him!"

Meiling nodded to her guardian as she took off at a sprint, Sakura and Tomoyo watched on as their friend sail through the smoking hole Spinnel had torn into the mass of vines disappearing through to the other side. Nodding to Sakura, Tomoyo was next disappearing into the hole. Finally only Sakura was left. She shot the guardians a final helpless look as they prepared to fight Spinnel before running towards the quickly shrinking hole.

Tucking her body into a tight ball, Sakura just managed to fit through the hole as it sealed shut behind her plunging the girls into darkness. Staring at the mass of writhing vines that thrashed the air with thorny shoots, all three of them realised that this was the point of no return.

"Come on," Meiling sighed, "Let's go."

"Like lambs to the bloody slaughter," Sakura muttered grimly as they turned around to face the dark cavernous temple entrance.

"Into the belly of the beast we go," Tomoyo added softly.

Meiling glared at them.

"Come on! Where's that Angel spirit?" she demanded, "I say we go in there, kick Heilang's sorry butt, get out of here and party! Who's with me?"

Tomoyo grinned at her.

"I'm in," she chirped.

Staring fearlessly up at the temple, Sakura allowed a small determined smile to grace her lips.

"We're so going to win," she muttered.

With that the three Angels plunged into the dark depths of the temple and into their destinies.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Heilang smirked feeling the chosen three enter his domain.

"Heads up," he whispered talking to a ball of black fire that he had conjured up into the palm of his hand, "They're coming."

He clenched his hand into a fist, the fire snuffing out as his fingers closed around it, casually he opened up his palm again revealing unburnt skin and a small trail of black smoke.

He whirled around, the black cloak he was wearing swirling around behind him like liquid shadows. With a simple gesture of his hands the powerful mage summoned the three pieces of the tri-sword to him:

Feng.

Shui.

Tu.

"And so it begins," he murmured, a wicked smile appearing on his face, "My destiny."

**To be continued…**


	34. Full Circle Part 2: We are forever

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Chapter 33: Full Circle (Part 2), We are forever**

Rika's did not even blink as Heilang's voice rung through the air around her.

_'Heads up, they're coming._'

The assassin merely flexed her hands, razor sharp claws gleaming in the dull light. And then she stood still, waiting.

The trap had been set.

And now all they had to do was wait for the victims:

The Angels.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

_'Heads up, they're coming.'_

Lara smirked and began stretching her limbs slowly, smiling in satisfaction as she felt their strength and flexibility.

"Pretty good for a just-out-of-coma woman," she noted wickedly, "Maybe this magic stuff does have its uses."

She smiled, relishing what was to come next.

As soon as the Angels arrived, they would be in for a shock of a lifetime and then?

She would have her revenge.

"Sakura," the rogue Angel snarled, "You're mine."

The ex-Angel paced the room, her movements liquid and deadly.

Just like a predator.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Eriol smiled bitterly as he heard Heilang's voice warning him about the Angels. He glanced around all the crumbling walls and gaping black holes, despair filling his soul.

"Tomoyo…" he whispered.

He paced the chamber he was in, every instinct in his body telling him to run but he didn't dare, he knew that Heilang was still watching him waiting for any signs of disloyalty or rebellion… but he knew that the dark mage couldn't watch him forever… as soon as the ritual started…

And then…

What would he do?  
Eriol sighed and smiled bitterly.

"Come what may," he whispered.

The time for choices was over, all he could do was ride out this storm and hope for the best.

His shoulders slumped.

"I can't help it," Eriol whispered trying to reassure himself, "It's not my fault. I'm trapped… I can't stop any of this…"

Never before had those words sounded so hollow and false.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"This is so Indiana Jones," Sakura noted glancing around at their surroundings.

"Great, all we need now is a boulder to come crashing down on us," Meiling muttered dryly.

Tomoyo smacked her on the back of the head lightly.

"Hush!" she warned, "Do you really want to give Heilang any ideas?"

Meiling shook her head hurriedly as Sakura smothered a giggle. Small points of multi-coloured light danced around them thanks to the Glow card, shedding some light on their shadowy surroundings.

They walked on for a few seconds down the long winding hallway, senses on high alert for the slightest hit of danger.

Meiling suddenly froze.

"This is too easy," she whispered looking around slowly.

Sakura and Tomoyo turned to look at her.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked frowning.

"Oh come on after the whole jungle of death thing this is way anti-climatic."

"Maybe he's tiring?" Tomoyo suggested hopefully.

"Right, and Santa Claus is going charge in here with his red sleight and help us defeat him along with the Easter Bunny and an army of leprechauns," Sakura drawled.

Tomoyo glared at her.

"All I'm saying," Meiling cut in again, "This seems like a trap."

"And ding, ding, ding," a voice said from the shadows behind them, "Girl gets a prize!"

Tomoyo and Sakura whirled around only to be struck in the chest with two hammering blows. They were flung backwards crashing into Meiling, all three of them hitting the ground, hard.

Meiling flipped back up onto her feet only to be tackled from behind, strong hands encircled her waist as she find herself being flung off to the side. She crashed into the wall, ancient stones crumbling beneath the impact. A strong kick blasted her through the already weakened wall. She landed painfully on the side, rolling over with a low moan as someone stepped through the hole in the wall and stood over her, watching her calmly.

Meiling looked up into a pair of dull brown eyes.  
"RIKA!"

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Tomoyo felt someone grab her arm, whirling around she tried to punch her attacker with her free hand but her blow as blocked expertly.

"WAH!"

She was thrown across the narrow hallway hitting a wall that collapsed under her weight allowing her to sail through the stone partition. She landed in a rain of shattered stone and powdered dust, hitting hard rock ground. Wearily, she crawled to her feet and looked around.

Through the gaping hole in the wall, she could see out into the hallway she had been in before but now she was in some kind of giant chamber. Flaming torches adorned the damp walls, throwing meagre light onto her surroundings, flickering fire painting hideous shadows onto the rough surfaces.

"Ouch," she whimpered trying to crawl back through the hole again.

The hole instantly sealed shut, solid rock forming over the gap as Tomoyo gaped at her now non-existent escape path.

"Great, just great," she looked around for the mirror and smiled as she saw it lying several metres away, reflective surface gleaming in the torch light.

She reached out for it but a foot shot out from the shadows and kicked it away, sparks flew as silver grinded against rock, the mirror hit the far wall and stopped. Tomoyo looked up.

"Eriol," she whispered.

He looked down at her calmly.

"Tomoyo."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura watched in horror as she saw first Meiling the Tomoyo being attacked by shadowy figures. Both of them were hurled through different sections of the wall, disappearing into dark abysses as she watched on helplessly.

"Well, looky, looky," a familiar voice drawled, "Alone at last."

Sakura glared at the woman.

"Lara," she spat.

"Sakura."

"Hey, how's that coma?" Sakura forced a honey sweet tone into her voice, "Relaxing? I can see it's done nothing for your looks."

"Bitch," Lara snarled.

"Or your manners," Sakura continued.

Lara leapt at her grabbing her arms before Sakura could react, the rogue Angel swung her around slamming her against the passageway wall.

"Come on Sakura," Lara whispered leaning close to the Angel's ear, "This is too public. We need to go someplace private where we can sit down and have a little girl-to-girl chat."

"Sorry, I don't swing for that team," Sakura snapped.

"Pity," Lara smiled into her face as she grabbed her again, "It seems like you have man troubles."

With a wicked smirk, she hurled Sakura at the opposite wall. The stone façade instantly disintegrated under the blow as Sakura sailed through the hole and into the dark chamber behind.

"Or maybe that's got something to do with the fact that you're a pathetic whining loser," Lara finished stepping through the hole herself.

She watched Sakura as the Angel slowly crawled to her feet.

"Well, here we are again," Lara smirked, "Girl to girl, one on one."

She threw a punch at Sakura.

"Don't hold back on my account," Sakura snarled blocking the blow.

Lara smirked as she kicked at the Angel, Sakura danced out of her reach.

"You and me, bitch?" Sakura smiled into Lara's furious face, "Let's rumble."

The two women leapt at each other and the final battle began.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Fire and crystals lashed Spinnel but the dark guardian ploughed straight through the multiple attacks, roaring loudly, mindless with rage.

Yue was flung backwards as Spinnel hammered him with a blast of magenta energy, the dark beast turned to Kerberos but the winged lion jumped to the side narrowly dodging the high-powered attack.

The beam exploded on impact, thick black smoke blanketing the battlefield as Ruby Moon looked around wildly, trying to see past the smog. A black shape hurtled towards her.

"TAKE THIS!" the guardian screamed firing a blast of ruby crystals.

Spinnel roared and disintegrated her attack with a burst of energy. Ruby Moon leapt into the air as Spinnel shot past underfoot tearing the earth with his low wicked talons. Ruby Moon rained a barrage of crystals down on him trying to damage his wings but the beast whirled around and blasted them away with his energy attack. Ruby Moon had to swerve sharply to the left to avoid being shredded by Spinnel's attack, she retaliated firing her crystals again but Spinnel casually swatted them out of the air with his paws, his sharp claws shattering the barrage into useless shards.

"Oh man," the winged guardian groaned.

Spinnel opened his jaws again, preparing for another blast of purple energy but was stopped as a tongue of flames slammed into his side shoving him violently away. His claws dug into the earth as he studied himself, wings flaring. Glaring off to his left, he hissed loudly at his attacker.

Kerberos roared and unleashed another blast of flames but Spinnel took to the air, the fire splashing harmlessly against the ground incinerating dirt. The dark panther roared with fury and blasted Kerberos but the lion mere rolled away, the energy striking a tree nearby reducing it to glowing embers.

Yue leapt back into the fray, his ice blue crystals ripping through the air with deadly accuracy. The barrage peppered Spinnel's side but with the dark guardian whipped his wings around using them as a shield as the crystals shattered harmlessly against the blue-black surface.

Yue gritted his teeth in frustration and strengthened his attack, Ruby Moon and Kerberos soon joined in unleashing their own magic until one continuous beam of crystals and fire struck Spinnel head-on. The dark guardian howled in pain and fury before firing his own attack by at them.

Magenta energy slammed into fire and crystals, both sides of this titanic battle struggling as they tried to overpower the other. A sphere of energy was growing where the two attacks met, wobbling dangerously as all of them continued pouring power into their attacks.

The sphere began flickering, its instability increasing with each passing second, but neither side was willing to up.

The inevitable happened.

The energy ball hit critical mass, exploding with a loud bang. The very air itself ionised as shockwaves blasted all of the combatants away, Spinnel was sent sailing off into the air as the three others guardians were dumped onto the ground, their wings no match for the crippling aftershock.

A dead silence descended onto the jungle as Spinnel hit the ground.

Four figures lay motionless on the dirt as a gentle breeze danced off their still bodies and disappeared off into the depths of Laotian jungle.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Eriol threw something at her, instinctively Tomoyo's hand shot out and caught it deftly, blinking stupidly at the object she held in her hands she looked up staring at Eriol not quiet understanding what was going on.

"En guard," Eriol whispered unsheathing his sword.

He pointed the edge at Tomoyo and moved into a classic fencer's stance waiting for the Angel to move. Tomoyo stared sadly at the sheathed sword clutched in her own hands.

"Are we going to do this?" she asked sadly.

"Yes," Eriol replied coldly.

Tomoyo slowly rose to her feet, pulling her own blade free and throwing the sheath off into the shadows.

"En guard," she said wearily raising her own sword.

Eriol darted in, Tomoyo parrying his blow away deftly. She whirled around blocking Eriol's next blow before dancing around his next jab.

"We don't have to do this, Eriol," Tomoyo pleaded even as she defended herself against Eriol's next attack.

"I think we do," Eriol snapped back going in with an overhead swing, "Stop defending and fight me, damn it!"

Tomoyo ducked under his blow spring lightly to the side before jumping back up and swinging her sword around at neck-height forcing Eriol to back away before leaping up into the air and hitting her with a flying kick. He stumbled backwards as Tomoyo landed nimbly and waited for him, a sad expression on her face.

"I'm going to win," she said sadly, "That's how this is going to end. But you can walk away…"

"Sorry," Eriol snapped charging at her, "I don't think so. You know what will happen if I walk away?"

His sword smashed into Tomoyo's. For a few seconds they stopped talking, the only sound filling the air was the loud tang of metal hitting metal. Tomoyo leapt up into the air as Eriol swept his blade at her knees, she tried for a mid-air overhead blow but Eriol deftly blocked her strike. She landed, whipping her sword up and around feinting another overhead strike before trying to slash at his sides. Both times Eriol's sword was there to stop her blows. She quickened her pace, foot moving quickly as she came in with a flurry of wild swings and slashes, Eriol's sword moved just as fast as a quick rattle of metallic tangs filled the air. Seeing an opening, his right foot lashed out catching Tomoyo just above the knees. With a small cry, the Angel stumbled away nursing her injured leg.

"Heilang fries me, if you defeat me he'll fry me," Eriol snarled viciously at her, "It's a lose-lose situation for me."

Tomoyo parried his strike.

"I can help you," she pleaded, "Eriol, please… don't."

"There's no other way," Eriol snapped, "I rather go down fighting."

"I can help," Tomoyo tried again, "I've got magic, powers…"

Eriol laughed bitterly, neatly sidestepping one of Tomoyo's thrusts.

"You've got powers? Compared to Heilang, you're nothing," Eriol's voice broke, "Do you know what he's going to do to you if you reach him? Do you?"

"Jeez, do you think he's going to kill me?" Tomoyo drawled sarcastically, still fighting fiercely, her sword a constant silver blur.

Eriol laughed, his voice a pale mockery of humour.

"He's not going to kill you. He's going to rip you apart," Eriol snapped, "He's going to make you pay."

"Why are you telling me this?" Tomoyo demanded.

Eriol lunged towards her as Tomoyo blocked him, their sword-blades tangled, cross-hilts locking together as they strained against one another trying to force the other down. Eriol stared at her through the crisscross of blades.

"Because I love you."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura cracked Lara across the face with a wild right hook before taking a nasty blow to the stomach. Pain roared through her body as she keeled over, Lara taking advantage with a vicious two-fist club down on her spine. Sakura hit the ground as the rogue Angel grabbed her throat lifting her up with shocking ease.

Blue eyes stared into green ones.

"Up, up and away," Lara taunted throwing Sakura across the chamber.

She hit the far wall, rock crumbling under the impact, weakly she brought her Star wand up.  
"Thunder card…" she began.

Lara charged at her, slapping the wand away.

"Nuh uh," she wagged a finger at her, "No magic."

Sakura screamed in pain as Lara's fingers closed over her wrist and viciously twisted it. Grabbing the wand from her stunned hand, Lara rammed the magical artefact into the wall; it stuck fast with half its length buried into the rock.

"No magic," Lara taunted, "What're you going to do now?"

"Hit you," Sakura spat back.

She head-butted Lara in the face driving the blonde woman backwards before leaping up and hitting her with a leaping double kick. Landing neatly, she whip-kicked the woman in the chest following up with a spinning backhanded fist to the face. Lara stumbled backwards, nursing her sore jaw.

"You got some new moves," she admitted grudgingly.

Sakura pasted a sweet smile on her face. "  
"You've gotten slower, hmm… maybe it's got something to do with your advancing age."

Lara narrowed her icy blue eyes at the Angel.

"I remember that comment when you're lying bleeding and broken on the ground."

"Nah, I don't think so. The ground's too dirty," Sakura laughed, "I think you'll look better on it, I mean it's got the same ugly, old, worn quality to it."

Lara leapt at her with a snarl, Sakura's head snapped back as her left fist slammed into it. She followed up with a right hook but Sakura ducked, throwing herself into a forward roll under the blow before springing outwards untucking herself and lashing out with her legs, kicking Lara behind her left knee. The rogue Angel howled with pain as she stumbled to her knees. Sakura instantly launched into a cartwheel nimbly flipping over Lara's head. She landed nimbly ending her move with a spinning power kick to the ex-Angel's chest, Lara was sent flying. She hit the ground painfully as Sakura smirked.

"See? Old, ugly and worn. Perfect match," she taunted.

Lara slowly crawled to her feet.

"That was just the warm up," she snapped.

"Oh goody, cos I'm all warmed up."

Lara leapt at her again this time feinting to the left, Sakura lashed out at her but missed as Lara dodged to the right and struck her in the chest. The blonde haired woman began dishing out punishment with lethal force and sadistic glee.

Sakura's head whipped from side to side as Lara's fist hammered into her. With a vicious grin, she threw Sakura against the wall driving the air from her body before beating her ruthlessly in the stomach.

"You like that?" she snarled, "You like that huh?"

Lara threw a punch at her head but Sakura managed to duck just in time. Sakura expected the rogue Angel to at least flinch in pain as her fist slammed into the wall but was shocked and stunned as Lara's punch left a decent sized hole in the solid stone. Lara pulled her fist free from where it was half-buried inside the wall. She held it up allowing Sakura to see the lack of bruises and cuts.

"I've been supercharged," she smirked.

"Well damn," Sakura murmured.

Sakura struggled uselessly as Lara grabbed her again, she threw the Angel across the room with a flick of her wrist, laughing loudly as the Angel crashed onto a mound of broken rocks and various other debris piled in the centre of the room. Slowly sashaying towards Sakura as the girl lay moaning amidst the rubble, Lara began laughing.

"Well, looks like lil' Sakura is in a spot of bother," she drawled bending down so she could grab Sakura's chin.

She roughly jerked the girl up so they were staring at each other, eye to eye.

She smirked into those emerald irises.

"Any last words?"

Sakura glared at her.

"Go to hell."

Lara laughed and shoved Sakura back down into the debris.

"Your wish is my command."

With that Lara threw the final punch.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling brought her legs up and over, whipping them around kicking Rika in the stomach. As Rika stumbled backwards, she expertly flipped back up onto her feet. The Clow sword became a blur of ruby and gold as she twirled it around her fingers before whipping it around and bringing it up in a defensive stance.

Rika recovered, behind her Meiling could see the hole in the wall, which she had sailed through just seconds ago. She gaped as she saw the gap seal itself, solid rock smoothing over the break until the wall was made whole again.

"Okay, stuck in a dark room with a clawed psycho," Meiling muttered, "This ought to end well."

She charged at Rika swinging her sword around, the assassin ducked under the blow before launching into a semi-cartwheel grabbing her ankle with one hand to steady herself as her other leg shot out catching Meiling in the chest. The Angel flew backwards, her back slamming into a wall as she lay there gasping for breath. Rika casually strolled over towards her, Meiling tried to stab Rika in the leg but the assassin sidestepped the lunge before lashing out at Meiling's hand with her foot kicking the sword away. The metal blade skidded over the rough ground before coming to a stop at the far side of the chamber.

Meiling sprung away from the wall, tucking into a roll as Rika swiped at her with her metal claws. She felt razor blades shred the back of her shirt, just nicking the skin as she sped past. Freeing herself from the roll, she lashed out, leg sweeping Rika to the ground. The assassin fell hard but was still able to block Meiling's next kick with her arms.

Both women leapt up, launching into spin-kicks. Meiling's eyes widened in shock as their feet tangled, locked together, both women strained trying to overpower the other. Ruby eyes stared into blank ones as they struggled. Suddenly Meiling leapt into a flip, kicking Rika in the head with her other foot. Rika stumbled backwards, their deadlock dissolving. Meiling jumped up, bracing one foot against a wall for extra leverage as she leapt up and kicked Rika in the face.

She quickly followed up with a battering of kicks and punches but Rika struck out, slashing at her leg before whirling around and backhanding Meiling across the face leaving three glancing gashes on her cheek. She ducked, ramming her head into Meiling's gut before springing free from the tangle and throwing a one-two crescent kick to her chest.

Meiling flew backwards, hitting the ground and tumbling several times before hitting the wall.

Rika lunged in, claws swiping. Meiling dodged to the left. Rika's claw shot past her glancing off the stonewall, sparks flying on impact.

She dodged again, Rika's claw embedding itself into the wall just inches from her head. Rika's eyes widened, the only outward sign of emotion thus far from the assassin as she tried to tug her claws free.

But it was stuck fast, the stonewall refusing to relinquish its hold on the metal blades.

Meiling grinned up at her.

"What's new pussycat?" she drawled.

She ducked under Rika's other arm and whirled around punishing the clawed assassin as the woman tried to free her claws from the wall. Meiling took full advantage of this, hitting Rika with a one-two-three combination kick aimed at her leg, back then head.

Wordlessly Rika pulled her hand away from her glove leaving the claws behind, still embedded deep in the wall. She whirled around punching Meiling in the face with her unglove hand before leaping up into the air and twirling around hitting Meiling with both feet.

The Angel hit the ground as Rika landed nimbly, charging forwards and jabbing her remaining claw at her. Meiling rolled, the metal claw hit the ground but Rika was ready for her this time grabbing Meiling by the throat with her other hand and pinning her down.

Meiling struggled helplessly as Rika raised her gloved hand and stared calmly down into her eyes.

The claw came down.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"That's bull!" Tomoyo screamed springing free from the tangle.

She began hammering Eriol with wild swings and thrusts, the man was hard pressed to fend off the blows.

"You don't mean that!" Tomoyo raged, "You liar! You filthy liar!"

She punched Eriol across the face before leaping into a back flip kicking him twice in the chest before landing in a crouch and spinning around, her sword ready to slice his stomach open. Eriol hurriedly backed away, blocking her swing weakly.

"I'm not lying," he yelled.

Tomoyo leapt up swinging the sword above her head in gleaming arc, Eriol ducked as the blade zipped past overhead. Tomoyo kicked him again but Eriol rolled with the blow, absorbing the impact before springing up onto his knees and blocking her next strike.

"I swear I'm not lying," he said softly looking up at her.

Tomoyo was trembling from head to toe, her emotions almost overwhelming her. Hurriedly blinking back tears, she gritted her teeth and fixed a glare onto her face.

"Liar," she hissed, swinging the sword again.

"CLANG!"

Eriol parried her blow.

"What can I do to convince you I'm not lying?" Eriol demanded.

"Give up," Tomoyo spat, "Stop fighting me."

Eriol wavered as Tomoyo slowly backed off, her sword still held up in a defensive position. Eriol closed his eyes, cool reason fighting with fiery emotions.

His slowly lowered his sword until the tip gently touched the ground.

He opened his eyes again.

"Okay."

Tomoyo slowly moved towards him as Eriol held out his sword to her. She stretched out her hand to take it.

_'I knew_ _you couldn't be trusted,' _a menacing voice boomed through the air.

Tomoyo looked around wildly as Eriol blanched.

"Okami Noir," he whispered.

_'I knew you couldn't be trusted so I came up with a contingency plan,' _Heilang continued venomously as Tomoyo desperately tried to locate the source of the voice, _'ACTIVATE!'_

Eriol gasped as his sword flashed once with purple light, his eyes glowed and turned dark with power as Tomoyo gaped at him. His whole body went rigid as tendrils of dark energy crawled up and down the length of his body. The energy slowly faded as Eriol's body relaxed again.

"Eriol?" Tomoyo asked quietly.

The man's head snapped up to look at her.

"Bitch," he snarled.

Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock as he swung at her, she tried to dodge but was caught unawares, the sharp blade ripping a superficial cut along her left arm. Grimacing in pain, Tomoyo steadied herself bringing her sword up again.

"Hello, lover," Eriol drawled, casually twirling the sword around in his hands.

"Eriol?"

_'Lover boy's gone,' _Heilang's voice appeared again, taunting her, _'It's this a nice little scenario, Angel? Killed or be killed.' _

"You sadistic bastard," Tomoyo snapped, her eyes still on Eriol as he stalked towards hermenacingly.

'Thanks.'

Heilang's voice disappeared as Eriol charged at her again. She parried his blow before springing away, backing off as she searched for any traces of emotions in his dark eyes.

All she saw was fury and hatred.

"Eriol, please," she tried again.

The man snarled at her with mindless rage and attacked again.

"CLANG!"

Tomoyo ducked a swipe before darting in with a quick thrust.

"CLANG!"

Eriol deflected her.

The battle raged as the two lovers fought, their swords mere blurs as they clashed over and over again. A short reprieve came as Tomoyo ducked and rolled under one of his lunges before leaping up, blocking an attempted back-stab before twirling around and facing him once more.

Eriol practically roared at her, his face contorted into a demonic countenance, his breathing harsh and uneven. Tomoyo wasn't faring much better herself, she could feel the first poisons of fatigue invade her body slowing her down.  
But still they fought.

Eriol tried an overhead swing but Tomoyo blocked him, locking her cross-hilt against his preventing him from pulling his sword away. She kicked him in the stomach, forcing him to double over in pain, freeing her sword she kicked him again in the head sending him sailing across the room.

Eriol hit the wall, debris raining down on him as he fell however he recovered almost instantly bounding across the room again. His movements were quick and agile, Tomoyo was hard pressed to fend him off as he hammered away at her defences. Tomoyo gritted her teeth and tried to keep up, weariness shooting up her arms especially her injured left one. Eriol tried to swipe at her legs but Tomoyo instantly blocked it.

They back off, each of them breathing heavily.

Tomoyo opened her mouth again to plead with Eriol but the man leapt at her before she could even say a word.

They traded swings and blows, neither penetrating the other's defences. Eriol swung from the left with a wide arc, Tomoyo's sword instantly coming up and deflecting the swing.

She was totally unprepared as he whirled around with amazing speed and whipped his sword across from the right, tearing into her uninjured arm. Tomoyo's sword lowered for a fraction of a second and Eriol struck, swinging at her at neck-height.

Tomoyo hurriedly ducked, weaving under the blow before straightening and whipping her sword around. Eriol blocked it, bringing his superior strength to bear as he forced her sword down, cross hilts locked together. Tomoyo struggled but the man was unnaturally strong.

"Argh!"

He struck her across the face. It felt like she had just been hit with a tonne of bricks. She stumbled backwards, tripping on her own feet and hitting the ground back first. Eriol immediately leapt at her, flipping the sword around until its point was aimed downwards at her. He tried to stab her through the chest but Tomoyo rolled away, lashing out at his ankles as she moved. Eriol stumbled as Tomoyo grabbed her sword and leapt up striking at his unprotected side.

Eriol tried to jump back but the sword bit into his ribs releasing a thin trail of red. He barely noticed the wound as he slashed at her.

She deflected the blow but Eriol kicked her in the chest. Pain roared through her body as Eriol kicked her sword hand, jarring it.

Tomoyo hit the ground again as Eriol advanced, brutal blood lust gleaming in his eyes.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura whipped her head to the left as Lara's fist sailed past shattering stone as she hit a chunk of rubble. Snarling in rage, Lara tried to hit her again but Sakura managed to dodge it, Lara's fist slamming down in the pile of debris again.

"Hold still!" Lara snarled.

Sakura head-butted her, forcing the ex-Angel back before grabbing a chunk of rock in her hand and beating her across the face with it. Sakura gasped as the piece of stone crumbled to dust revealing Lara's unbruised skin.

"How?" she whispered softly.

Lara grinned down at her and pushed back her red leather jacket revealing the red blouse and black jeans she wore beneath. She pointed down at the thick black belt binding her waist.

"Heilang gave us gifts," she smirked.

Sakura followed Lara's fingers down onto her belt and more specifically at the silver buckle she wore. A purple gem, probably an amethyst, glittered there in the meagre light, a splash of purple against the silver plating. Even as Sakura watched on, light blazed from the gem. Lara laughed and covered it up with her coat again.

"Eriol got a magic sword, I got super strength and Rika…" Lara shrugged, "Who care what that little freak got."

"Eriol?" Sakura was confused, "Who's he?"

Lara merely smirked at her. She lunged at Sakura again but Sakura ducked under her swings. Lara stumbled onto the pile of debris as Sakura backed away hurriedly not wanting to fight with Lara until she fully understood the extent of her magically boosted powers.

Lara laughed and slowly rose to her feet, grinning viciously at Sakura. She hooked her feet under a clump of rock and kicked it up into the air. In a blindingly fast move she spun around her foot lashing out and smashing into the rock, sending it flying towards Sakura. Sakura tried to dodge it but it struck her in the chest, shattering on impact.

She fell to the ground, wheezing and gasping in pain.

Lara laughed and sashayed over towards her.

"Well, you look like death," she sniggered.

She knelt down and grabbed Sakura by the neck.

"So Angel, wanna see what heaven looks like?" she asked with a nasty laugh.

With that she hurled Sakura up at the ceiling. Sakura winced, bracing herself for the pain of smacking into rough stones with painful force however she found herself sailing upwards and upwards. Twisting around in mid-air she gasped as she saw that the ceiling of the chamber was unbelievably high, stretching up into the darkness until the light failed and one could see no more. A veritable jungle of thick vines dangled down from the ceiling and it was on one of these that Sakura clung to avoid hitting the ceiling or coming down to earth with a resounding smack.

She clutched her vine tightly and looked down at Lara who smiled up at her.

"Hello, monkey," she called, "Tiger's coming up to play."

Sakura gaped at the ex-Angel as with a single leap Lara managed to gain enough height to grab onto another vine. Quickly she clambered up the woody length, darting towards Sakura's height. The Angel shook herself, galvanising herself into action as she realised she had several seconds before Lara reached her. With a small grin, Sakura loosened her grip allowing herself to slide down the vines; she lashed out hitting Lara's arm causing the rogue Angel to fall.

Lara snarled in fury grabbing onto another vine just in time. Once again she scrambled up the creeper heading towards Sakura, but this time as the Angel lashed out to kick her, Lara leapt to the side grabbing on another vine and swung around kick Sakura in the chest.

Sakura flew backwards still hanging onto her vine. Her back hit the wall painfully as Lara looked on, laughing. Glaring at the rogue Angel, Sakura pushed off from wall using the extra boost as she swung towards the blonde-haired woman. Lara leapt away onto another vine as Sakura sailed past, the American Angel nimbly leapt onto the same vine as Lara but higher up. With a smirk, Sakura let go falling right on top of the ex-Angel. Lara lose her grip as Sakura grabbed on tight. She watched as Lara hit the ground below painfully.

"What's wrong Lara?" Sakura taunted, "Arthritis bothering you?"

Lara growled at her and leapt up again, grabbing onto a vine. Sakura scaled hers hurriedly, putting distance between them. At this height, the vines were not only growing vertically down, they were growing in a mass criss-cross forming complex networks. Gingerly, Sakura stepped down onto a mass of vines. It wobbled under her weight but held.

Sakura smiled as she realised that this jungle of vines presented a whole new battlefield. She waited for Lara to come up.

It didn't take long.

The rogue Angel practically charged up her vine but Sakura was in position. She backhanded her before swinging her around and slamming her against a curtain of growth. Lara cursed loudly before shoving Sakura, she flew at Sakura with a flying kick but the Angel jumped down a gap in the net of vines, Lara sailing past overhead. The rogue Angel hit the wall, bouncing off nimbly and grabbing onto a nearby vine swinging across as Sakura popped up again only to be struck in the back.

"Me, Tarzan. You, moron," Lara called out wickedly.

"Jeez, you're right. You do have that ape-monkey look going on," Sakura snapped back steadying herself.

Lara leapt down from her vine trying to body slam Sakura but the Angel jumped down the gap again, grabbing onto a horizontal vine below. Lara hit a safety net of creepers as Sakura swung herself around flipping back up through another gap and kicking out at Lara as she landed.

Lara roared with fury and swiped at her but Sakura darted off, practically bouncing along the vine-floored battlefield. Lara charged at her but Sakura leapt up grabbing onto a vine and swinging out of harm's way. She grabbed onto another way, swinging around and kicking Lara in the back sending the ex-Angel sprawling.

"Actually if I remember correctly Tarzan wasn't didn't stumble around getting his ass kicked," Sakura drawled still clutching onto the swinging creeper.

"Laugh now," Lara spat crawling to her feet, "But when I get through with you… words will not describe how you will look."

"Hmm… just like words cannot describe your outfit?" Sakura asked sweetly, "Can you say trailer trash?"

Lara narrowed her eyes as sniggering Angel.

"I'm going to tear you apart."

"Pace yourself, grandma," Sakura shot back.

Lara leapt up, grabbing onto a vine and swinging towards Sakura, the Angel tried to scramble up the vine to avoid her but Lara flung herself across the gap in a flying tackle. The vine snapped under the combined weight of both women sending them tumbling down onto the carpet of growth below. The net of vines wobbled dangerously under the sudden impact as Sakura leapt free from the tangle, Lara closely following behind. She grabbed Sakura, whirling her around and punching her viciously in the stomach.

Sakura doubled over in pain as Lara kneed her in the face. She went for another blow but Sakura leapt into a full back-flip double-kicking Lara before following up with a spin kick to her chest. Lara's arms flailed around wildly as she tried to regain her balance. Sakura took several steps back, watching her every move. Once the ex-Angel steadied herself, she smiled viciously at Sakura.

"Nice try, Sakura," Lara snarled, "Close but no cigar."

Sakura smiled at her.

"Lara?"

"Yes?"

"You're an moron."

Sakura charged at the ex-Angel ducking under her vicious right hook. Her hands shot out and ripped the silver buckle away from Lara's belt before she cocked her fist back and punched Lara in the kidneys. The rogue Angel howled with pain and stumbled backwards as Sakura straightened, smirking victoriously.

The blonde haired woman looked up slowly, her eyes wide with shock.

"Telling me the source of your power? That was one of your mistakes," Sakura snapped, "But you're biggest mistake? Was messing with me in the first place."

She palmed the buckle in her hand and slammed it against the wall, the purple gem shattered with a flash of light. Lara's eyes flashed with the same colour as she staggered backwards breathing heavily.

"And now? We're even."

Sakura smiled as she cracked Lara across the face.

"So who do you think is going to win?"

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling lashed out with her right hand and caught Rika right in the eye. At the same time her leg snapped forwards kicking the assassin in the arm forcing her to let go of her neck. Rika fell backwards as Meiling rose to her feet ready for more.

Bouncing lightly on her feet, Meiling took up a boxing stance as Rika climbed to her feet, blank eyes watching her opponent emotionlessly.

Meiling pounced forwards, some fancy footwork helping her side-step Rika's clawed lunge as she threw a one-two jab at Rika's stomach. Both struck as Rika doubled over, Meiling swung back for a powered up uppercut that connected with brutal force. The assassin's head snapped backwards as Meiling bounced back, it took several seconds for the woman to recover but she retaliated with deadly force.

Gleaming claws slashed the air as Meiling ducked only to kneed in the face, an elbow crashed down onto her neck before Rika sliced her check with a glancing blow. Meiling blocked Rika's next swipe before punching the woman in the face, forcing her back. Slapping a hand to her bleeding cheek, Meiling gritted her teeth as Rika blinked at her.

"You're fast, I'll give you that Josie."

Rika blinked at her again.

"Get it, Josie?" Meiling looked for any reaction from the silent assassin, "Josie and the Pussycats? Comic book character?"

She was met with dead silence.

"Okay, so I guess you've never heard of her," Meiling drawled.

She peered at Rika who stared back at her.

"Jeez, tough crowd," Meiling muttered, "My dry wit is so under-appreciated."

In reply Rika lunged forwards, swiping at Meiling with her clawed hand, Meiling ducked under the swing before ramming Rika in the stomach with her fist. Rika stumbled away as Meiling jumped up with a one-two kick to the assassin's torso but Rika grabbed her foot on the second blow and dumped her on her back. Meiling turned the fall into a roll before springing up again.

"Nice try, Hello Kitty."

Rika stared at her as Meiling sighed.

"Boy, tough crowd."

The assassin came in swinging with her right hand, the only clawed one she had left, Meiling ducked and weaved again as Rika unleashed three slashes in quick succession. Meiling tried to swing at her with a right hook but Rika grabbed her arm with her left hand and twisted it viciously.

"Agh!"

Meiling grimaced with pain as Rika swung at her again with her right. Meiling twisted her body against Rika's blocking the swing with her shoulder before snapping her head to the left, head-butting Rika in the face.

She snatched her arm away from Rika's grip before grabbing her right wrist, forcing the clawed hand down before punishing her with vicious barrage of punches to the side of her head.

Rika's head snapped from side to side as Meiling continued to punish her but if the women felt any pain at all, there was no outward sign of it.

"What the hell," Meiling muttered as she continued to beat Rika into submission.

By now Rika's face should've been a bloody pulp but there wasn't even a bruise marring her pale skin. Realising that her punches were having no effect, Meiling hurled Rika at the wall before kicking her in the gut.

Brushing off the blows as if they were nothing, Rika stood up again. Meiling watched on in horror as the bruises dealt to her earlier in the battle faded away leaving unblemished, unbroken skin behind.

"What's with the instant healing?" Meiling wondered backing away as Rika calmly strode towards her.

A flash of light caught Meiling's attention. Her eyes flew to Rika's neck, a flash of silver making her realise that the assassin was wearing a necklace. It was a slim chain of silver with a rough diagonal pendant. Set in the centre of the pendant was a purple crystal that flashed with light once more as Meiling cocked her head to the side, wondering what it was.

"Okay, something that glow-y and shiny?" she muttered to herself, "Got to be magical and got to explain the super-heal."

Rika lunged at her, slashing the air again. Meiling sidestepped the swipe before cracking Rika across the face. The woman stumbled backwards before looking and staring at her, the bruises on her face already healing up.

"Not good, not good," Meiling whispered, "Got to destroy the necklace."

She charged at Rika throwing a quick jab at her stomach as her other hand shot out. Rika recovered almost instantly, narrowly missing Meiling's arm with her claws as the Angel was forced to retreat.

"Damn, she's gotten faster as well," Meiling growled, "Super speed and super healing. Why do you throw in heat-vision and ice-breath as well?"

She suddenly remembered Tomoyo's warning about giving Heilang ideas and decided to shut up and concentrate on the task at hand.

"Okay, first things first," Meiling whispered to herself, "Disarm her. Get rid of that claw."

She leapt forwards but had to jump back hurriedly as said claws slashed the air narrowly missing her face.

"Easier said than done," Meiling muttered darkly.

This time it was Rika who attacked first, Meiling had to rely on pure instincts as Rika unleashed a flurry of slashes, kicks and punches. She was too damn fast.

Meiling gasped in pain as she dodged one swipe only to jump right in the path of another. The razor sharp claws sheared through the sleeve of her shirt, biting deep into her arm

"Oh man," she moaned clutching her bleeding wound.

Rika pressed on slowly driving the Angel backwards. Meiling dropped to the ground under one slash before lashing out with her foot.

A sickening crunch filled the air.

Meiling was unable to suppress a small smile of satisfaction as she heard the sound of cartilage popping in her opponent's knee. Rika immediately hit the ground, her eyes glazing over with pain as her knee bent an unnatural angle.

Meiling popped back up, kicking Rika in the chin. The assassin fell backwards onto her back as Meiling leapt at her trying to grab her necklace but the woman's left arm shot out defending her neck. Her uninjured leg snapped up kicking Meiling in the back and forcing her away.

Meiling watched as Rika crawled to her feet, she gulped as she saw the madly mangled knee began repairing itself. Cartilage and muscle was made whole again as the joint properly reinfused itself together again.

"Not cool," Meiling moaned.

Rika leapt at her with a flying kick that connected with her chest. Meiling was sent tumbling, rolling head-over-heels before slamming to halt against a rocky wall. Rika came at her, slashing with her claws.

Sensing her opportunity, Meiling grabbed her wrist before she could yank it away and twisted it viciously, bone crunching under the brutal treatment. At the same time her other hand shot out and ripped the necklace away from Rika's neck. She dropped it onto the ground before viciously stamping on it, shattering the crystal.

Purple light flashed as the crystal broke as the same light appeared in Rika's eyes. For the final blow, Meiling threw Rika into the wall still grabbing onto her wrist. The assassin's head smacked against the hard surface, she would've fallen over if Meiling had let go of her arm. She ripped the clawed glove away, hurling it off into the shadows before pushing Rika against the wall once more.

The Asian Angel backed away as she felt a victorious smile unfurl across her lips.

"Whoops, no magic. No claws," she beamed at the assassin, "What are you going to hit me with now?"

In reply, Rika tore off her jacket with her left hand, her right hand badly mangled from Meiling's vicious twist. The black leather jacket fell to the ground as Meiling backed away uneasily not liking Rika's calm demeanour.

Her eyes widened as Rika revealed her final weapon: a semi-automatic rifle strapped across her back. Pulling it free, Rika calmly aimed the barrel of the gun at her, her blank eyes not even blinking. Meiling was already in motion as Rika pulled the trigger.

Meiling threw herself behind a stone pillar as bullets flew. Metal slammed into rock as Meiling grimaced.

"Maybe I should've let her keep the magic," she muttered.

The firing stopped as Rika let go of the gun however it was bound to a strap hanging around her shoulder so it was still within easy reach of her good hand. She picked up her leather jacket again and calmly put it on.

Meiling risked a glance around the stone pillar and frowned seeing the move.

"What…" she began.

She got her answer as Rika pulled a dark round object from her jacket. Pulling the pin out, Rika hurled the grenade at Meiling's refuge and watched calmly as the stone structure disintegrated in an explosion of smoke and fire. Meiling threw herself free from the blast escaping any major harm.

However she was now out in the open.

She glanced at her Rika, eyes widening with shock as the assassin grabbed her gun again, aimed it at her and prepared to fire.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

She was on her knees, Eriol towering over her as he prepared to deal the final blow.

"Eriol…" she began.

He swung his sword down at her with brutal force. Tomoyo gritted her teeth as she raised her sword, barely fending off the blow.

"Please," she tried again.

If Eriol heard her, his face didn't show it, he swung at her again. Tomoyo could feel stinging pain travelling up her arm as she blocked him again. In quick succession Eriol slashed at her three times, Tomoyo blocking him at each turn however each time the blade got closer and closer to hitting her.

On the fourth swing, Tomoyo threw herself to the side rolling away as the blade smashed into the ground. She jumped up slashing at Eriol but the man was ready for her, deftly deflecting her weak blow.

By now Tomoyo was breathing heavily, fatigue setting in. Eriol on the other hand seemed perfectly fine.

He came at her with a wide left swing, Tomoyo ducking under the blow. She tried to slash at his knees but his sword slid in the way, metal hitting the metal with a loud clang. Gritting her teeth, she twisted her sword around his, slamming both blades down into the ground. Her arm shot up and punched him in the face as he staggered backwards. Freeing their swords Tomoyo whipped it around scoring a shallow cut across his belly.

Eriol roared in rage and charged at her, body slamming her into the wall. He punched her hard.

"Argh…" Tomoyo let out a low moan as her head cracked into the wall.

Her vision went grey as the world around her spun wildly, through blurry eyes she could see Eriol stepping back and raising his sword until its gleaming point was aimed straight at her. With a roar, he charged forwards intent of impaling Tomoyo through the chest.

Tomoyo spun around, the sword edge slicing through the back of her shirt, nicking skin before slamming into the wall. Metal screeched against rock, as about a quarter of the blade became embedded into the stony surface. Eriol tried to rip the sword free but it was stuck fast.

Tomoyo whacked him across the face forcing him back before clutching her sword and charging at him.

A powerful roundhouse kick slammed into the side of his face forcing him to his knees, she swung at him but Eriol ducked. She kicked him again snapping his head back before swinging the sword at him again.

The man rolled out of the way, his foot shooting out and catching Tomoyo above the knees. With a cry, the Angel fell as Eriol jumped up.

He kicked her in the stomach with vicious glee before kicking the sword out of her hand leaving her defenceless. He reached down, grabbing her by the collar and lifting her up roughly. He punched her in the stomach, the force of the blow sending her flying up towards the ceiling.

"Ah!" Tomoyo gave a cry of pain as she smacked the ceiling hard before crashing down back to earth.

Now flat on her stomach, Tomoyo was helpless as Eriol kicked at her. Tomoyo ducked but his heel came swinging back clipping her on the jaw. The kick hammered into her sending her rolling away.

She crawled to her as Eriol charged at her, summoning the last of her strength she flipped over him kicking her in the back as he blew past. He crashed into the wall as Tomoyo ran to her sword picking it up.

Now feral with rage and fury, Eriol whirled around and snarled at her, his eyes now completely black. Tomoyo backed away as Eriol stalked towards her growling dangerously. Her eyes darted around the dark chamber hoping to spot some other kind of weapon but there were none. Until her gaze happened to fall on the Eriol's sword, which was still embedded deep into the wall.

She gaped at it remembering how the sword had flashed when Heilang's voice had commanded something to activate. Her lips curled up into a smile as her eyes darted back to Eriol.

She slashed at him forcing him back before ducking under his arms. She whirled around kicking him away before rushing over to his sword. With a cry she swung her sword around with all her might.

Sharp blade ploughed through metal as Tomoyo felt something broke under the blow. The mangled cross-hilt of Eriol's sword fell to the ground as the whole sword flashed with purple light, she whirled around just in time to see Eriol fall to his knees. She slowly walked over to him with measured steps, sword held at the ready.

Eriol looked up at her, his eyes back to their normal dark blue.

"Tomoyo?" he whispered gently.

Tomoyo stared back at him for the longest time.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Lara fell as Sakura leapt at her kicking her in the face. The woman fell backwards flat on her back.

"Jeez, Lara… feeling your age?" Sakura smirked as she began pounding the woman with powerful blows.

Lara snarled in anger and grabbed her arm shoving the Angel away. Slowly she crawled to her feet grabbing onto a nearby vine for support.

"You bitch," Lara snarled.

"Sticks and stones won't break my bones, Lara," Sakura shot back, "But I bet they'll do a hell of a job on yours."

She kicked at Lara again but the ex-Angel blocked her blow.

"You think you're going to win," she spat.

"Actually, I know I'm going to win."

Lara glared at her.

"You can't kill me."

"And why not?" Sakura demanded narrowing her eyes as she backed off a little.

"Because then you'll never know the full truth," Lara smirked at her.

"About what?"

"And how your mother died."

"You betrayed her."

"Yes," Lara laughed, "But you'll never know what her final words were… how she died… if you kill you'll never find out."

Sakura stared at her as Lara laughed again.

"Come on, Angel. Don't you want to know how mommy died?"

"I know how she died," Sakura said slowly.

She glared at Lara.

"She died a hero."

Grabbing onto a vine, Sakura swung towards her and kicked Lara in the chest sending the ex-Angel flying. The woman flew through the air, smacking into the wall before falling back onto the floor of vines. Sakura casually landed balancing herself perfectly as Lara scrambled to her feet.

"Please," Sakura rolled her eyes, "The good old let's-taunt-the-good-guy-about-parent/spouses'-death ploy? What were you trying to do? Get me so pissed off I'll make so fatal mistake?"

She stalked towards Lara cracking her across the face again, the ex-Angel fell sidewards.

"Lara, you're an idiot," Sakura smirked, "And where did you get that idea from anyway? Watching old action movies or from 'Villains for Dummies'?"

She waited for Lara to crawl onto her knees before swinging at her with an uppercut, the net of vines wobbled dangerously as Lara hit the floor of creepers again.

Sakura crouched down and pinned the ex-Angel to the net of vines as she continued to grin down at her.

"This is for Mom."

"CRACK!"

She punched her in the face.

"This is from me."

"CRACK!"

"This is from Tomoyo."

"CRACK!"

"This is from Meiling."

"CRACK!"

"And this? This is for everything you've ever done in your life."

"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!"

By now Lara's face was a messy pulp of blood and torn skin, Sakura continued to whale on her as she unleashed all her fury at the helpless rogue Angel.

"You're not going to killing me like this," Lara managed to choke out even as she coughed out blood, "You're a white hat. You're not going to kill me when I'm down and helpless."

Sakura glared down at her.

"You deserve to die like this," Sakura snarled, hitting her again, "I wonder how many times you've beaten someone to death. Have you ever done it in your 'Kill Room'? Yeah, I remember that."

Lara's hands shot out and grabbed Sakura's fist, her head whipped upwards and head butted the Angel driving her back.

"I've done it a hell of a lot of times," Lara snarled, "And now I'm going to do it to you."

She pounced on Sakura, batting her hands away before nailing the Angel in the face with vicious right hook. She swung in with a left hitting Sakura again.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance," Lara growled, "Because now you're the one that 's going down."

Sakura stomped down on the floor of vines with all her might. The whole network of ancient growth wobbled dangerously as Lara continued to beat Sakura into submission. Sakura stomped down again and the vines gave way.

Lara looked around in shock as the vines ripped free from the walls. With the anchors gone, the whole network began to collapse. The vines beneath their feet fell away as both women sailed through the widening gap.

Sakura's hand shot out trying to grab onto a trailing vine but it slipped out of her grip. Now in freefall, both women tried to halt their vines, desperately trying onto a vine but they were falling too fast, the rough plants slipping out of their grip each time.

"YES!" Sakura cried finally managing to snag one, her twisted the trailing plant around her arm as her sailed down.

Her arm was almost pulled out its joint as her fall abruptly stopped. Sakura dangled there in midair gasping for breath as leafs and roots from the crumbling network above rained down on her. Below her Lara had grabbed onto one as well and was trying to scramble up its length to her but the ancient plant snapped in half unable to take the ex-Angel's weight or her thrashing movements.

Sakura could see Lara's wide blue eyes and gaping mouth as she fell the final ten metres to the ground. An audible crunch filled the air as she landed awkwardly. Gulping, Sakura looked up at her vine but it seemed strong. Gingerly, she began to climb down making sure her movements were smooth and slow. Once she reached the end of it, she let go falling the final two metres down bending at the knees as she landed to absorb the fall.

She landed right in front of Lara. For a few seconds she crouched there waiting for the ex-Angel to move but the woman lay still. Cautiously walking over towards her, Sakura nudged the body with her toes.

No movement.

Carefully she rolled the woman over and hissed seeing the unnatural angle of her neck.

Lara Williams, the infamous rogue Angel was dead.

"Bitch," Sakura whispered.

She spat on the ground before turning around and walking over towards her Star wand, which was still embedded in the stonewall. Working it free, Sakura twirled it around and summoned a card.

"THUNDER CARD!" she called, "BREAK THROUGH THE WALL! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Thunder clapped and a bolt of lightning crashed in the wall, which she had sailed through originally. Black smoke filled the air as the lightning bolt punched through the stone leaving behind a gaping hole. Sakura walked quickly towards it and crouched down to climb out of this dark chamber.

She shot a final glance behind her.

Her emerald eyes took in the sight of Lara's body lying spread-eagle on the ground as vines rained down around her.

She turned back around and climbed out of the chamber leaving behind one dead body.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling leapt to the side as line of fire tore into the ground. Rika calmly tracked her movements, each twitch of her fingers unleashing a barrage of bullets. Meiling raced around the chamber desperately trying to avoid being cut down by a hail of howling metal.

She ducked around another stone column as Rika fired at her. Bullets slammed into stone as the column began to crumble under the assault, broken chips and dust falling onto the ground. Rika calmly pulled another grenade out from her jacket and lobbed it at Meiling. The Angel hurriedly leapt away as the bomb slammed into the column gouging a chunk out from the stone in an explosion of fire.

Rika continued firing at her again.

Meiling was running out of columns to duck behind. She rolled behind another one as Rika threw another grenade at her. This time Meiling darted out and leapt into a spinning roundhouse kick, her foot connected with the green bomb sending it flying backwards. It exploded in mid-air, the concussive waves shoving both Meiling and Rika backwards with incredible force.

Meiling slammed down into the ground as Rika hit a wall. The Asian Angel tried to peer through the smoke as her hand scrabbled around wildly for a weapon.

It hit something cold.

Frowning in confusion, Meiling looked down.

The Clow sword.

Meiling smirked as she clutched the blade and leapt back up onto her feet, sword held at the ready.

"Now, we're going to have so fun," she whispered wickedly.

She waited patiently as the smoke began to clear. Rika was already up on her feet, the gun aimed straight at her, barrel gleaming.

She squeezed the trigger.

"FIERY CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Meiling cried.

A wave of intense fire lashed at the bullets, melting the artillery in mid-air. Rika stared calmly at the fiery sprite as Meiling smirked back at her.

"Whoops, guess that gun is basically useless now," she taunted.

Rika pulled a grenade out from her jacket and pulled out the pin. With deadly precision she lobbed it at her opponent's direction.

"FIERY! NO!" Meiling yelled as the Clow spirit leapt forwards.

But it was too late.

The fire-fuelled sprite released a gush of fire trying to incinerate the bomb but it only compounded its effect. The Fiery card was snuffed out as a powerful explosion rocked the chamber. Meiling was blown backwards again as the Fiery was forced back into its card form flying back to her.

Rika calmly raised her gun again.

Meiling reached blindly for another card.

"FREEZE! STOP THAT GUN! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" she yelled.

A beam of blue energy struck the gun encasing it in a solid block of ice. Rika let go of her gun, allowing it swing by the strap around her shoulder before leaping out of the way. The Freeze card's beam struck the wall leaving behind a glittering patch of frost. Retracting the ice spirit, Meiling leapt at Rika with a wild swing, still clutching her sword. Rika ducked before grabbing her frozen rifle and whacking Meiling across the face with it.

The Angel stumbled backwards as Rika leapt into a small hop launching into a spinning roundhouse that knocked Meiling to her knees. She tried to kick her again with another spin kick but Meiling rolled under the blow, leaping up and striking Rika in the chest with a snap-kick.

The assassin stumbled backwards as Meiling backhanded her before slashing at her again, Rika spun away bringing her frozen rifle up to meet the blow.

Metal bit into ice as Rika spun the rifle around knocking the sword free from Meiling's hand. She leapt forwards double-punching Meiling in the chest before leaping up and high kicking her in the chin.

Meiling flipped backwards landing gracefully, bouncing off the wall for a flying kick that struck Rika's chest.

The assassin hit the ground as Meiling leapt up again, intent on crushing Rika to the ground as she came down with a flying kick. Rika rolled away as Meiling's foot hit the floor, pain shot up her leg as she fell to her knees. Rika lashed out kicking Meiling in the back sending the Angel sprawling forwards as she leapt up.

She grabbed Meiling by the shirt, kneeing her in the stomach before dragging her up to her feet and backhanding her in the face.

Meiling spun away as Rika charged again for another blow.

The Angel ducked under Rika's haymaker, hitting the assassin the stomach. She keeled over as Meiling hop-kicked her in the face.

The assassin stumbled backwards almost falling over but Meiling grabbed her by the arm and threw her across the room.

She crashed into one of the pillars, hitting the almost crumbling structure hard. Rika slid to the ground but slowly picked herself up, ready for more.

Meiling grinned at her.

"You shouldn't have thrown those grenades," she smirked.

Rika looked up. The pillar already badly damaged by the grenade that had hit it earlier was beginning to crumble fast. A huge crack travelled up the length of the stone as Rika tried to jump away but the pillar fell right on her crushing her beneath its weight.

"BOOM!"

Meiling looked on as a chunk of the ceiling fell as well burying Rika beneath an avalanche of stone. Dust smothered the chamber as Meiling backed away hurriedly, her eyes barely making out dark shapes falling through the smoke.

It took several seconds for the dust to dissipate but once it was clear, Meiling carefully sidled up to the wreckage.

A stone fell away from its precarious position perched on top of the wreckage revealing Rika's face. The assassin's eyes were closed, a trail of blood leaking out from the corner of her mouth. A peculiar dent in her forehead told Meiling that the woman's skull had caved in under the barrage of heavy stones.

The Angel stood there, staring down at her destroyed enemy quietly. Finally and with a small shrug, Meiling turned around walking over to her sword and scooping it up.

"EARTH CARD! DESTROY THE WALL! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" Meiling cried.

The wall instantly crumbled under the magical card's assault, Meiling retracted the card before walking purposefully towards the gaping hole torn into the stone. Not even shooting a final look behind her, Meiling stepped out of the chamber and into the hallway, one step closer to Heilang.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Her sword wavered.

"Eriol?" she whispered.

Eriol blinked at her, looking around in confusion.

"What happened?"

Tomoyo slowly lowered her sword.

"Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

Tomoyo stared at him.

"Oh god," she whispered.

Her mind was in turmoil.

What should she do? Her heart was in conflict with her cool mind. She knew she should just kill him. It would be safer for her…

But.

"Eriol?"

She decided to go with her heart.

"Yeah?"

She bent down and kissed him softly, her sword falling out of her hands.

"Get out of here before it's too late."

She turned around and walked towards her mirror, picking it up she turned around and aimed. Firing a beam of pale energy at the wall. The attack tore a hole in the stony surface.

She turned back to Eriol.

"Tomoyo," he said softly, his eyes overflowing with tears, "I love you."

"I know."

The Japanese Angel crawled through the hole in the wall throwing one last helpless glance behind her before stepping out in the hallway. She hurried down the dark passage.

"Tomoyo?"

Tomoyo whirled around as her friends emerged from the shadows.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked seeing her friend's tear-stained first.

Tomoyo shook herself, angrily wiping her tears away.

"I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"I fought," Tomoyo said dully.

"Me too," Sakura fell silent, "Lara's dead."

"So is Rika," Meiling said grimly.

They stood there, lost in thought.

"Come on," Tomoyo said urgently pushed past her friends, "There isn't much time left."

They hurried down the dark hallway.

"Do we know where we're going?" Sakura demanded.

"There's only one way to go," Meiling reminded her, "In case you haven't realised this hall is a one-way road."

The American Angel shrugged as they continued to race down the dark passageway. Finally they came to a set of immense stone doors that towered under their heads, two immense columns stood on either side, grotesque carvings of demons and ghouls adorning their crumbling surfaces.

"I guess this is it," Meiling said staring up at the door.

"Ready?" Sakura asked quietly.

"As I'll ever be," Tomoyo murmured.

"Okay, count of three Tomoyo bust that door open," Meiling growled, "One… two… three!"

With a cry Tomoyo aimed a blast of energy at the door, the stone façade immediately crumbling under the blow. The immense door fell inwards, hitting the ground with a loud bang, its stone surface cracking from the impact.

The girls froze.

Behind the doors lay an immense chamber, high domed ceiling cupping four towering walls. Five immense pillars supported the roof, the ancient stone structures forming the corners of a pentagon drawn into the rough floor. Within that pentagon stood four flaming torches supported by bronze tripods, the flickering flames providing meagre light to chase away the dark shadows. In the centre of the dome, at its highest point, a hole had been cut into the ceiling allowing a single beam of sunlight to strike the centre of the room.

In that halo of light stood Heilang, his eyes crackling with power, dark tendrils of energy dancing across his skin. He turned around and grinned viciously at the girls.

"Feng! Shui! Tu!" he cried, "Let the three become one!"

The three swords were suspended in the air around him, energy crackling along their blades. Tomoyo fired a beam of energy at Heilang but a dome of black light flickered into existence absorbing the attack.

"Feng! Shui! Tu!" Heilang continued, "Power of the earth! Power of the sea! Power of the sky! I SUMMON THEE! Ancient gods and divine spirits, I call upon you now, in this darkest hour, let your most unholy son receive the cursed darkness. The power. The power that is beyond all that is hoped and dreamed. COME TO ME!"

Heilang raised his hands as a bolt of black lightning crashed down from the ceiling, striking his chest. Energy flew from his fingers striking the three pieces of the tri-sword linking them together in a crackling circle, connecting them to Heilang.

"I call form the blade of the Tri-sword, let land and sea and sky join. Let me wield that power! Ancient gods and divine spirits, hear my plea!"

That was a flash of light so intense that it blinded the girls, crying out in pain they backed away shielding their eyes as best as they could. Once the light finally faded, the girls looked up into Heilang's victorious face.

"Here it is the tri-sword," Heilang snarled, "The final key to the resurrection of the Void!"

He held the blade aloft. All three Angels could feel the primeval energy rolling off the metal in heady waves. The blade of the sword was strange. It wasn't like a normal sword. It was as if three separate pieces of metal had been warped and shaped together, beaten and heated into place. The edges weren't straight but twisted however it was still deadly sharp. Heilang pointed the blade at them.

"I lied," Heilang smirked, "This is not the final key."

"What is?" Meiling demanded.

"You girls are."

The Angels gasped in shock.

"What?"

"You see, if you weren't here I wouldn't be able to free the Void card," Heilang laughed, "Isn't it ironic? See prophecies are tricky things, in order to open the fourth book. The book of Heilang, I need to drain the magic from the other three books. And I won't be able to do that if you three weren't here."

"How?" Sakura whispered.

"How? Easy. Like this," Heilang summoned his magic as dark energy crackled along the tri-sword's blade.

The three girls jumped away as beam of dark energy shot out from the sword but it was useless. The single beam split in three, each veering off in different directions tracking the Angels' every movement. Sakura was first to be hit, the blow throwing her against the wall.

Meiling tried to defend herself, slashing the air with the Clow sword but the blade went straight through the beam as though it was made of air. It struck her in the chest.

Tomoyo fired a beam of her own but the dark beam summoned by Heilang sliced right through hers without a pause, slamming straight into her before she could even blink.

Dark tendrils of power wrapped themselves around the girl, lifting them up into the air as Heilang laughed. More and more energy were poured into the attack as the energy increased forming spheres around the three Angels.

"So mote it be," Heilang whispered lowering his sword.

The crackling energy slowly died away revealing three opaque spheres of darkness, from one globe a beam of pink energy shot out hitting the tri-sword. From another a ruby beam of energy emerged and from the third, a beam of dark blue. Heilang laughed as he raised his sword, all three beams striking its surface. The energy travelled down the blade and into his body as the dark mage harnessed the magic of the chosen tree.

"Cursed darkness bring to me the fourth book. The book of shadows, chaos and death! The book of my namesake! The book of Heilang!" he commanded, his voice guttural with power.

A roaring black vortex opened before him, the energy it expelled distorting the very air itself. Heilang reached inside and pulled a dark object out, raising it up into the air in triumph. With a flick of his wrist, he sealed the portal shut.

Reverently, he placed the book onto the ground.

"With the powers of the earth, the sea, the sky, the elements, the spirits and the dreamland flowing through me, I command thee to open," Heilang whispered, "I who command the power of the earth, command you…"

"OPEN!"

The earth rumbled as the sky roared with fury. All around the world, seaside cities were battered as the sea seethed and raged tossing up massive waves. Lightning and thunder raced across dark skies, hammering the rumbling earth with battering monsoons. Earthquakes shook the very foundations of the world as plants began to wither and die.

Even as rain pounded the earth, raging infernos burst into life racing cross woodlands and fields alike, burning in woods, in forests and in cities. It ravenous mouths devoured all in its paths, the lives it destroyed meaning nothing to it. Hurricane winds battered the weak human structures that stood before it, tearing entire buildings down as it unleashed its wrath.

The whole world was tearing itself apart.

But in the dark spheres that Heilang had entombed them into, all was quiet.

And in the silence, the Angels dreamed.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura looked around, she was home.

"What the?" she whispered, "What the hell?"

"DING DONG!"

She jumped in shock looking around wildly trying to make sense of what was going on.

"DING DONG!"

Where was Heilang?

Where was the temple?  
Why was she here?

The questions were cut off as the doorbell ran again. Cautiously Sakura moved to the door.

"Who's there?" she called.

"I'm selling cookies!" a feminie voice called back.

Frowning in confusion, Sakura opened the door. A young woman about the same age as her stood there, smiling at her politely.

"Would you like a cookie?" her intense purple eyes drilled into hers.

"No…" Sakura said slowly.

The young woman's grin fell, she raised her hand and ran her long fingers roughly through her short light-blue hair.

"Please?"

Sakura shook her head again.

"Fine," the blue-haired woman huffed, "I'll just go next door and see if Goldilocks wants any. She'll get everything and you'll get nothing."

The woman shuffled off as Sakura stared after her, baffled.

"What is going on?" she wondered closing the door.

"DING DONG!"

The doorbell rang again.

"What the?"

Sakura whirled around and yanked the door open.

"Look, I don't want any cookies."

"Cookies?" Xiaolang looked at her in confusion, "What cookies?"

"Xiaolang?" Sakura was confused, "What are you doing here?"

"Umm… don't you remember?"

"About what?"

"Today's the day."

"What day?" Sakura was confused.

"We're getting married."

"HUH?" Sakura cried, "But… wha.. now.. I… we haven't even dated!"

"But you're all dressed up," Xiaolang told her smiling appreciatively, "And by the way you look beautiful."

Sakura looked down at herself and sure enough she was dressed in a full-blown, white lace wedding dress. There was even a veil hanging over her face.

"What the…" she began.

"Fine," Xiaolang sighed, "If you don't want to go. I'll just get Goldilocks. And she'll get everything."

"Xiaolang… wait!"

But the man was off disappearing down the hallway.

"This is really confusing," Sakura muttered closing the door and turning back to her apartment, "What is going on?"

"You don't know do you?"

Sakura slowly turned to her left.

"MOM?"

Nadeshiko stared at her sadly.

"It's coming Sakura."

"What is?" Sakura asked, "Mom, what is going on?"

"It's coming."

"What's coming?"

"The fall."

"Right…"

She moved towards her mom but someone got there before her.

"Now, why is it that you always hurt the ones you love?" a familiar voice drawled.

Sakura stared into a pair of emerald eyes.

"You."

"Me."

Psuedo-Sakura pulled out a gun and shot at Nadeshiko, the woman crumpled as blood splattered Sakura's wedding dress.

"You're gone."

"I'll always be here."

Dropping the gun, she pointed at Sakura's chest.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling shot up in bed.

"Okay…" she said slowly looking around at her darkened bedroom, "Why am I here?"

She got up out of bed and padded to the door, outside she could hear voices. Still frowning in confusion, she opened the door and stepped out into sunlight.

"Okay, did I install a park in my hallway?" she wondered aloud as she felt green grass brush against her feet.

There was a narrow stone path cutting through the lush grass field leading into a clump of trees, Meiling felt compelled to follow the path so she did so stepping off the grass and onto the rough stone.

Along the path she walked, constantly looking around. Everything seemed normal, bright sunlight, a gentle breeze and happy families all camped out under trees. All of them waved at Meiling as she walked past.

"What's going on here?" she muttered seriously freaked.

The sunlight above dimmed as she walked in the trees. She pushed through the scrub until she came to a clearing. A child's playground had been set up: a slide, swings, monkey bars… but strangest of all was that fact that almost everyone she knew was playing there.

"Hey! It's Meiling!" Tomoyo called as she slid down the slide.

"Hi, Meiling," Sakura was playing on the swings.

"Mommy," Lily ran up to her.

"Hey, Lily," Meiling scooped up the young girl as Tomoyo walked over to her.

Tomoyo reached behind her back and pulled out a bunch of sweet-smelling tiny white flowers.

"These are for you."

"What are these?" Meiling asked smelling their scents.

"Gypsophila paniculata," Tomoyo smiled, "Aren't they pretty?"

"Oh they're so pretty."

"Yeah, but they're so fragile," Tomoyo shrugged, "They die pretty easily."

As if on cue, the white flowers turned brown.

"Whoa," Meiling murmured.

Lily began tugging at her hair.

"Yeah?" Meiling glanced at the small girl, "What's wrong, baby?"

"I've got a secret."

"What secret?"

Lily leaned in to whisper in her mommy's ear.

"Artemis and Freya are coming to play," she murmured, "But Pluto and Hades are coming too. They want to chase the little girl."

"Right," Meiling muttered, "Cryptic clues…. Ooo… my favourite."

Lily leapt down from her arms and ran off with Tomoyo to play in the sandpit but Sakura was already there scraping a hole in the sand.

"What are you doing, Sakura?" Meiling asked looking towards them.

"I'm playing," Sakura said distractedly, the bulk of her attention on the sand.

"Playing what?"

"I'm digging."

"Right… why are you digging?"

"To make sure it's nice and deep, I think it should be six foot deep," Sakura frowned, "I want it to be nice and comfy."

"Right."

"I'm playing also," Tomoyo grinned at her, "But I don't like digging holes. They're dark and scary."

"Since when were you afraid of the dark?" Meiling demanded.

"Sometimes the thing you have to be afraid of is from within."

"Uh huh," Meiling muttered.

Tomoyo and Sakura leapt up.

"I know!" Lily beamed up at her, "Let's play house."

Just then Meiling's hearing caught the sound of thudding.

"What the?" she turned around and just at exactly the same time, a white horse burst from the bushes.

"Daddy's here," Lily cheered.

"Hello," Marcus smiled as he brought the horse to a halt right in front of her, "And where are you going, pretty lady?"

"A horse? Can this get anymore lame?" Meiling wondered.

Marcus leapt down from the horse and strolled over to her. He leaned forwards and kissed her softly on the lips.

"We've kissed," he whispered as he pulled away.

"And now you're married," Sakura began crying.

"It's so pretty," Tomoyo whipped a camera out of nowhere and snapped a shot.

Meiling stared at all of them.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Tomoyo awoke with a start.

"Wake up!" a voice snarled.

Tomoyo jumped as ruler slammed down near her head, confused and dazed Tomoyo looked around. She was sitting in what appeared to be classroom, all around her sat people she knew: Meiling, Sakura, Kiyone, Xiaolang, Marcus, Fujitaka…

She realised that someone was standing over her.

She looked up.

"Are you awake now?" Nivaline demanded.

Tomoyo was confused but she slowly nodded. Nivaline gave her a warm smile.

"Good," Nivaline bounded up to the front of the class and pointed to a blackboard sitting on the wall.

"Can you tell me what this says? Tomoyo?"

Tomoyo looked at the blackboard and realised that there was something written there in thick white chalk.

"Forty-five?" she said slowly.

The class began laughing, Nivaline glared at them.

"HUSH!"

The class fell silent.

"No, Tomoyo, it's four and five. Repeat after me… four and five."

"Four and five," Tomoyo repeated.

"Very good," Nivaline smiled at her, "I'd like to give you a gold star but you can't since you're so naughty inside."

Now Tomoyo was more than confused.

"Okay, class. What does the four mean."

Sakura raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"It's the reason."

"Very good," Nivaline cooed, "Yes, four is the reason."

"For what?" Tomoyo asked.

"Raise your hand, first. Disruptive students are bad students."  
Tomoyo raised her hand.

"Yes, Tomoyo?"

"Four is the reason for what?"

Nivaline smiled at her.

"It's the reason for the return, silly," Nivaline teased, "It's also the reason why it's wiped clean."

"Right…"

Nivaline turned back to the class.

"Now… what does the five mean?"

"It's the reason," Fujitaka replied.

"Right."

Tomoyo raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"For what?"

Nivaline laughed.

"Tomoyo, you're being forgetful today," Nivaline shook her head, "Five is the reason for everything."

"Huh," Tomoyo nodded as if she understood.

Nivaline smiled at her before turning away from the blackboard and grabbed a book from a nearby shelf.

"Okay, does anybody know the title to this book?" she asked.

Kiyone raised her hand.

"Goldilocks and the three bears?"

"Right."

"But miss!" Marcus called, "The title's wrong."

Nivaline smiled.

"Very good, Marcus. It is wrong," she moved over to the man, "You get a golden star!"

"No fair!" Kiyone whined, "I answered a question as well."

"You're right. In fact everyone gets a gold star except for Tomoyo," Nivaline shot a glance at her, "Because she's so naughty on the inside."

"What?"

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

The black book rose into the air as Heilang pointed the tri-sword at it. A beam of black, pink, red and blue energy struck the cover as the dark mage concentrated.

The three Angels were still trapped in the dark spheres, feeding him their magical energy as Heilang manipulated them for his own dark purposes.

"I command you as the true son of the dark master that created you to open!" Heilang bellowed, the beam of light intensifying, "With the darkness in my veins and heart, I command thee open!"

Foul black smoke began to fill the chamber.

"I command you!" Heilang cried, "Darkness commands you! OPEN!"

The book blazed with light as Heilang laughed in victory.

"Finally, it is mine! My destiny!"

Slowly, inch-by-inch the cover of the book creaked open. Dark light began spilling out as Heilang reached out with his hand.

"Finally, you are mine."

He reached inside the book and ripped something free from its pages.

"You are mine," Heilang whispered staring reverently into the dark object he held in his hands, "Void card."

The world began to weep.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Nadeshiko stumbled to her knees as the Limbo quaked again, the screams of demons and the soprano cries of Heaven booming in the air around them.

"All hope is lost," Nadeshiko whispered, "It's too late."

"No, it's not," Mini-Meiling grinned.

The woman stared at her.

"But the Angels… my daughter… they are trapped! How can they fight him when they're trapped?"

Mini-Meiling continued to beam at her.

"The one shall split into two and the two shall never know each other. When the darkness comes, they shall be made whole and their remaking shall turn the tide," she remarked lightly, "Watch."

Nadeshiko frowned in confusion as Mini-Meiling began to glow with divine light.

"It has truly begun."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Fujitaka glanced out his window as fat raindrops pounded down onto the roof.

"Hmm… what's with the crazy weather?" the man remarked stepping away.

He turned on the T.V. and was instantly assaulted with instant bulletins informing him of all the disasters occurring around the world:

Floods in Asia…

Firestorms in Europe…

Earthquakes in America…

Hurricanes in Australia…

And strangest of all, blizzards in Africa.

"Maybe we should've listened about all those greenhouse gas emission warnings," Fujitaka whispered horrified at the extent of the damage some of those regions had suffered.

He looked out the window again and wondered if he should call his daughter, to find out if she was all right. Making a quick decision, he moved over to the phone.

But he never got there.

A horrendous pain filled his chest as he fell to his knees. Fujitaka began coughing violently, migraines assaulting his head. Finally the pain just got too much to bear and he passed out, slumped across the cold floorboards.

His body lay still there for several seconds before his mouth opened just the tiniest of fractions and a puff of white mist escaped. The ethereal wisp lingered here and there before gathering itself into a tiny ball. It began glowing, the light growing in strength until it disappeared in a flash of white light.

Its destination?

Laos.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Eriol felt pain shoot up his battered body, gasping in pain; he scrabbled against the rough wall for purchase. He had taken Tomoyo's advice: he was trying to leave this temple as quick as possible however his duel with the Angel had left him severely weakened.

As pain roared through his body, Eriol moaned clutching his head. Every single nerve in his body felt like they were on fire.

With a final whimper of pain, Eriol collapsed onto the ground. His mouth opened and a wisp of white smoke emerged, it twisted and turned in the air before it froze. Suddenly it streaked down the dark hallway heading towards the direction Eriol had come from.

Suddenly another wisp of smoke appeared before it in a flash of white light, the two puffs slammed into each other twining themselves together before hurrying off down the dark passageway as one wisp.

White light began pulsing along its ethereal surface as it burst into the chamber where Heilang stood triumphant. It saw the scene spread out before it with invisible eyes and made a conscious decision.

White light blazed as it began fulfilling its purpose.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura glared at her doppelganger.

"You are not me," she snarled slowly.

"Is that so?" Psuedo-Sakura smiled, "Silly girl, soon you'll learn."

She spun around.

"Talking about learning. I think it's time."

"For what?"

Psuedo-Sakura shot her a playful look.

"Magic."

She disappeared, fading away into thin air as someone stepped out from her bedroom.

"What the… Yue?" Sakura stammered in confusion.

The guardian gave her a little bow. His usual outfit of white and blue was gone replaced by a neat tuxedo complete with a red bowtie and cummerbund. He pulled off his top hat and presented it to her, pointing at its internals.

Sakura peered inside.

It was empty.

Yue spun it around in his hand before placing it on a nearby coffee table and reached inside. His arm instantly came back up, his hand holding something tightly. Yue showed it to her.

"A cobra."

The guardian nodded, his hand disappearing back into the hat. He pulled something else up.

Sakura stared at what Yue was holding: an ivory mask, designed to fit over the whole face.

"A mask?"

Yue nodded again.

"It's very Russian," a voice said from behind her.

Sakura jumped and whirled around.

"Chelsea?" she gasped.

The young woman nodded before pointing at Yue.

"Watch. Learn."

Sakura turned to look. Yue was already in the process of pulling another object out. He palmed it in his hands and showed it to her.

It was a piece of charcoal.

"Charcoal?"

"It's very black," Chelsea murmured, "Full of hatred and despair."

Yue snapped his fingers and the charcoal burst into flames. Sakura's emerald eyes gazed into the small red fire and a sudden urge came over her to touch it. She reached out with her hands.

"Don't touch it," Chelsea whispered.

Sakura looked at her.

"You've been burnt before."

Sakura glanced at her hands, they were blistered and some of the skin was peeling but she felt no pain.

"What is it?"

"Fire… warmth… heat… energy… hatred… revenge," Chelsea looked at Sakura, "You've been touched by revenge before haven't you?"

Sakura remained silent remembering her battle with Alicia and Lara.

"Yeah."

"Funny thing about revenge. It never goes out," Chelsea whispered, "It burns and burns and burns but it never dies. It never goes out."

Sakura whirled around as Yue threw the burning charcoal at her. She screamed in pain as fire brushed her skin, flames devoured her body as she thrashed wildly trying to put it out.

"It burns and burns and burns," Chelsea repeated.

And the flames never went out.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"What?" Meiling stared at them, "I'm not married… I mean we've only just dated a couple times."

"Really?" Tomoyo cocked her head to the side, "I could've sworn there was more."

"Okay, there was more but marriage?'

She found herself talking to stone. Her friends, Lily and Marcus turned to stone right in front of her eyes. She stared at the statues now standing before her, now understanding what was going on.

A harsh wind blew through the trees and the statues crumbled, stone powdering into dust that was swept away off into the blue, blue sky.

"Come back!" Meiling screamed, "What the hell is going on?"

"Sometimes, all it takes is a mistake."

Meiling whirled around and glared at the speaker.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Oh, you've never met me. I'm Nadeshiko Kinomoto."

"Sakura's mother?"

"That I am."

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, this?" Nadeshiko gestured at herself, "I'm not this. This is merely a guise."

"Right… okay what are you doing wearing that guise and being here?"

"I've come to warn you."

"About what?"

"Mistakes."

"What mistakes?"

Nadeshiko moved towards her.

"Sometimes even with the best intentions mistakes happen. Sometimes they're small… sometime they're not."

"I got this memo in kindergarten so if you want to rehash old stuff please leave," Meiling snapped, not amused.

Nadeshiko merely smiled at her.

"But what happens if you make a mistake? A big one? A one that changes everything?"

"What kind of mistake?"

Nadeshiko ignored her as she walked over to a clump of bush and held out her hands. Something crawled out from the foliage and settled onto her palm, Meiling stared at the creature.  
It was chameleon.

Even as she looked on, the lizard's skin began changing colours.

Red.

Blue.

White.

Yellow.

Silver.

Gold.

Black.

"Change," Nadeshiko whispered, "Can be brought on by many things. Fate. Mistakes. Accidents."

Meiling glanced around her and to her shock she saw the trees were morphing, changing shape into something else. Right in front of her eyes, a clump of bush turned into a small bear that ambled off into the shifting forest.

"Change is peculiar," Nadeshiko continued staring at the chameleon in her hands, "It can be for the better or for the worse. Something that can seem bad maybe good whilst something that seems good can be bad. Curious, is it not?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because change is coming. Minor ones at first then the big one. The storm," Nadeshiko placed the chameleon back into its bush, "It's happening rather quickly."

"When?"

Nadeshiko smiled mysteriously at her.

"Two by two."

"Huh?"

The woman suddenly frowned.

"Oh, dear it's changing."

"What?"

"The ground."

Meiling looked down and realised that the solid earth beneath her had turned into a shifting quicksand. With a cry, she tried to free herself but the hungry mud just sucked her in further.

"A single mistake," Nadeshiko looked at Meiling as she sunk up to her neck, "Don't make it. It will hurt everyone."

She sighed.

"But do it because it will be for the better."

With that Meiling's head sunk beneath the mud and everything went black.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Back in the real world, trapped within the dark spheres Meiling and Sakura's body began thrashing wildly as they died in their dreams.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

"Don't pretend you don't know," Nivaline smiled, "You're naughty and bad."

"Huh?" Tomoyo was confused, "Me?"

"Oh dear, miss," Meiling called out, "I don't think she knows."

"Hush, stop interrupting," Nivaline frowned at the girl before turning back to Tomoyo.

"Don't you know?" she asked.

"Know what?"

"About yourself."

Tomoyo was confused again.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"Don't use that tone with me!" Nivaline snapped.

Tomoyo sighed.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked sweetly.

Nivaline nodded.

"Do you know who you are?"

"I'm Tomoyo."

"And?"

"I'm a female?" Tomoyo was not sure what Nivaline wanted for an answer.

"No, not that."

"I'm an Angel?"

"Really?"

Tomoyo frowned up at her.

"Why do you question that?"

"Are you sure of your answer."

"Yes."

"Really?"

"YES!"

"Oh dear, you really don't know," Nivaline sighed.

"Care to inform me?"

"It's not always about the outside," Nivaline pointed out the window.

Tomoyo glanced outside at the perfect blue sky. Nivaline knelt down and touched Tomoyo in the chest.

"Sometimes the danger is from within."

"What's within?"

The scenery outside darkened as heavy storm clouds raced across the sky.

"Come," Nivaline dragged her up, ignoring her previous comment, "Let me show you."

They raced down the classroom heading down towards the back of the room. Tomoyo frowned as she saw a fish tank lying on a nearby table. A big black fish was zipping across the surface, swimming around frantically with wide open eyes.

"What's wrong with the fish?" Tomoyo wondered.

Nivaline glanced at what she was looking at.

"Oh that?" she smiled, "It's just trying to get out. Here."

She handed Tomoyo a mirror.

"Look inside, tell me what you see."

Tomoyo grabbed the mirror.

"Just be warned, you might not like what you see," Nivaline said suddenly.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes.

"I've got a zit?"

"It's not always about the outside."

Tomoyo peered into the mirror and saw…

Darkness.

Rage.

Fury.

Lust.

With a cry, she dropped the mirror. It hit the ground and shattered, glass flying everywhere.

Nivaline put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. You'll have some fun first," Nivaline murmured, beaming at her.

Tomoyo looked up at her, suddenly she felt cold fingers wrap itself around her neck.

"Oh dear," Nivaline sighed, "It's gotten out."

Tomoyo fell forwards as the cold fingers began choking the life out of her.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

The three Angels thrashed in their imprisoning spheres as their dream selves died. Their pain was felt keenly by Heilang as their energy continued to be drained into the dark mage, the man laughed in ecstasy as he felt each girl weaken.

"I've got the card and the Angels," Heilang crowed, "Boy, am I feeling happy!"

The mysterious mist blazed with light as Heilang noticed it for the first time.

"What the?" he growled at the mist, "What the hell is that?"

The mist began changing, its shape stretching as it formed a rough human silhouette. White light filled in the shape as Heilang narrowed his eyes and pointed the tri-sword at it. He unleashed his magic, fully expecting his power to rip through the mist however to his shock the crackling energy fizzled out as it hit an invisible barrier.

"What the?" the dark mage roared in fury, "What are you?"

The light disappeared revealing the figure's face. Heilang's eyes widened in shock

"Clow Reed!"

The semi-transparent figure smiled softly. Heilang was right in one aspect, it looked like Clow Reed but it was not him. It was a mere spectre of the mage, a leftover shadow from an ancient time with only one purpose in mind.

Clow Reed's spectre raised his hands as streams of white fire lashed out at the dark spheres imprisoning the Angels. Heilang's eyes widened in shock as he felt the constant drain of their energy first flicker then vanish altogether.

"NO!" he blasted the ethereal figure again but his attack struck an invisible barrier that absorbed the force of the blow.

The white fire streaming from the spectre's hand struck the dark spheres with deadly force, tearing into the darkness with pure white light. The Angels were freed from the dark magic, the white fire streaming around them bringing them back to consciousness.

Sakura blinked.

"What the?"

She saw Clow Reed's spectre and gasped in shock.

"Clow Reed?"

The spirit nodded, smiling mysteriously. The fire gently lowered the Angels to the ground.

"HOW?" Heilang roared.

Sakura's eyes widened as she realised something.

"The one shall split into two and the two shall never know each other. When the darkness comes, they shall be made whole and their remaking shall turn the tide," she whispered.

She stared up at the Clow Reed's spirit.

"You are the one."

The phantom nodded as the other two Angels came to.

"Whoa, what's with the Casper?" Meiling gasped.

"It's Clow Reed… or a ghost version of him… he freed us from those wacky dreams…" Sakura frowned, "Did you have them?"

"Oh yeah," Meiling muttered, "Freaky as well."

Tomoyo nodded in agreement. Clow Reed's phantom smiled at them before vanishing in a flash of white light. Heilang roared with fury.

"Damn you, Clow Reed!" he snarled.

"That's ironic. You arch-nemesis who's been dead for a couple centuries comes back to thwart your plans… how do you feel?" Tomoyo taunted.

Heilang glared at them.

"You'll wish he never helped you."

"Oh and why's that?" Meiling demanded.

"Because of this," Heilang held up the Void card.

The Angels eyes widened in shock.

"VOID CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Nivaline awoke with a start.

Where was she?

Slowly she sat up in bed, every single part of her body throbbing with pain. She looked to the side and noticed the medical equipment she was hooked up to.

"Hospital," she sighed, "God, I hate this."

She glanced to her right and noticed there was a window. Through it she could see the dark sky outside as it flashed with lightning, heavy rain pelted the glass as Nivaline froze.

She looked around wildly until she noticed there was a bed next to her. An old woman laid there, hooked up to what seemed like a whole pantheon of machines. On her beside table there was a colourful vase containing a bunch of bright flowers that practically glowed in the dim light. As Nivaline watched on, the brilliant petals began to brown and curls up as the stems drooped.

She realised what was going on.

"Oh god."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

A ghostly young girl with sad blue-purple eyes burst from the card. Her long grey-brown tresses fell to the ground as the two wings adorning her hand flapped frantically.

"Void card! Be one with me!" Heilang cried.

The dark spirit whirled around and seemed to fly into the dark mage, the man's eyes turned pure black with power as energy crackled along his body. The girls gasped as an oversized spectre of the Void card appeared over the man, her faint outline superimposed over his thrashing body.

"Die," Heilang snarled, his voice not even human.

He slashed the air with the tri-sword unleashing a wave of dark energy that struck the girls hard. They flew across the room, hitting the walls with devastating force. Sakura was the first to crawl onto her feet.

"SHIELD CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A dome of blue protective energy sealed over the tree girls as Heilang laughed and slashed the air again.

The Shield card stood no chance as the dark energy sliced straight through the barrier and struck the girls again.

"He's too strong," Sakura moaned as she crawled to her feet again.

"Screw the defensive, let's hit him!" Meiling snarled, "FIERY! WATERY! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A roaring inferno and a surging tsunami sprung forwards crashing into Heilang, the man dispersed the two elements with a flick of his wrist. A blast of black energy sent both spirits back into their card forms.

"Oh man," Meiling groaned.

"Wait," Tomoyo summoned her cards, "SLEEP CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Heilang laughed and destroyed the spirit before it could even move.

"Not good, not good," Tomoyo muttered.

He sent another blast of dark energy at them, the spectral Void spirit above him frowning in concentration. The three Angels leapt out of the way as the beam crashed into the wall punching right through the solid stone as if it was made of air.

"What's the new plan?" Tomoyo yelled.

"RUN!" Sakura screamed as Heilang attacked them again.

The dark energy tore another hole in way as all three girls summoned defensive cards.

"DASH CARD! GRANT YOUR SPEED UNTO ME! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

"WINDY! TAKE ME UP INTO THE AIR! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

"ILLUSION! SILENCE! HIDE ME FROM SIGHT AND HEARING! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Heilang laughed at the girl's pitiful attempts.

"That's not going to help you," he crowed as he fired a blast of Sakura.

Thanks to the magical speed-enhancement of the Dash card, she was able to dodge the blast but it was still a close call.

Heilang blasted up at the ceiling where Meiling was sailing around on a stream of cold wind. The Windy dived down taking its mistress with it as the energy punched through the roof disintegrating stone on impact.

"FREEZE CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A beam of cold energy struck Heilang but the mage easily overpowered it with a blast of darkness. He unleashed his full force on the Freeze card, easily forcing it back into its cards.

"Is that all you've got?" Heilang laughed, "Why don't you Angels just lie down and I'll make it quick!"

"THUNDER CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A bolt of lightning struck Heilang in the chest but it barely phased him. He struck the card with a blast of dark magic destroying it in one blow. Sakura gulped as he turned his black eyes on her.

"DIE!"

"JUMP CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

Sakura leapt up high into the air as the energy beam destroyed one of the pillars. A huge hunk of ceiling collapsed as its support disintegrated.

"STAND STILL!" Heilang roared, "Just die, you god damn bit…"

He gasped in pain as an arrow slammed into his shoulder. Sakura and Meiling stared at the wound.

"Tomoyo," Sakura whispered.

Heilang ripped the bolt free and threw it onto the ground, stomping on it viciously.

"Oh so one of you is hiding, how cute," he drawled, "It's not going to help you!"

He began to fire randomly all over the chamber, searing beams striking the walls and ground recklessly. Sakura leapt away as a beam struck the ground where she had just been standing seconds ago. The American Angel rolled away before jumping up as Heilang turned his attention to her. His lips curled up into an unpleasant beam as he began firing at her.

"WAH!"

Sakura was hit with a concussive wave as a blast of energy sailed past striking the ground. She was shoved violently away as Heilang whirled around her, sword held at the ready.

"Dodge this," he snapped sending a blast towards her.

Out of nowhere, a flash of green-yellow light struck the beam stopping it in its track.

Sakura gaped at the frozen energy as she leapt away.

"How?"

"Angel…" Heilang called out in a singsong voice, a wicked smile on his face, "Come out, come out, wherever you are…"

The green-yellow light disappeared as the energy slammed into the wall missing Sakura by a mile.

"Little girl wants to play hide and seek?" Heilang barked, "Fine, she can hide and I'll seek her out and tear her apart."

He raised his hand as a ball of dark energy gathered in his palm. He threw it on the ground in front of him. The energy surged and whipped itself around forming a roaring vortex, Heilang barked out a word and something burst free from the portal.

Sakura gulped at the monster.

It was big and bulky and vaguely resembled a black pit-bull. Spines grew along a ridge on its back, sharp horns jutting out from its squat head and haunches. Its paws were clawed and its fangs were massively oversized for its small jaw. The black creature sniffed the air wetly before bounding over towards what seemed to be an empty corner.

"TOMOYO!" Meiling cried, "WAVE CARD! STOP THAT THING! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A wave of water appeared from nowhere slapping the black beast away. Heilang glared up at the flying Angel.

"Back off!" he snarled, "Jeez, do I ruin your fun?"

He gestured his hands towards a rough pile of debris and smirked up at the Angel.

"Wanna play slap?" he taunted.

Meiling watched as the dark energy whirled around the broken stones. Chunks fused together forming squat fingers as others joined to form a rough palm. Meiling gulped as more rubble flew towards the energy. The rocky hands grew and grew until they could easily wrap their fingers around her waist, she watched in horror as the two hands flexed their fingers experimentally.

"Oh man."

Heilang laughed as his two creations flew up at the ceiling towards Meiling, fingers outstretched ready to grab the Angel.

The dark dog beast had gathered itself again, bounding towards another empty patch of ground. A blast of pale energy betrayed Tomoyo's location as she blew the demon back.

Heilang turned on her instantly, powering his sword up again but Sakura struck first.

"SNOW CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!"

A blizzard of ice and wind struck Heilang staggering the man but he quickly recovered slicing through the howling wind with his sword before blasting the Snow spirit back into its card. He glared at Sakura.

"Awww… poor little Angel feeling left out?" he cooed, "Don't worry, I'll make you a whole new playmate."

He threw a ball of black light at Sakura. It hit the ground and exploded, disgorging a new creature out as the ball collapsed.

Sakura stared into the monster's blood red eyes. Its face was horrifically disfigured, a demonic countenance sitting on a seemingly frail body covered with black strips. It raised its taloned hands and hissed at her, revealing long yellow fangs.

"That thing is a demon," Heilang smirked, "It's ancient but don't worry it doesn't show its age. It's been waiting for centuries for a moment like this so it's a little… shall we say… ravenous?"

A truly evil smile appeared across his face.

"I'm sure you two will make good friends."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock as the demon pounded its chest before charging at her. He leapt at her sailing through sunlight before landing right in front of her and punching her in the stomach.

She sailed away hitting a wall.

Heilang laughed at the sight and turned back to his black beast only to find out that it was fast asleep knocked out by the Sleep card.

"WAKE UP!" he roared lashing the monster with a blast of dark magic.

The beast instantly leapt up roaring viciously as it sniffed the air again, it was off darting off towards wherever Tomoyo was. Up in the air above, Meiling had tried restraining the two stone hands with her Wood card but found to her horror that they were incredibly strong tearing the vines away as if they were made of paper.

She tried again, binding the hands tight in a mass of vines but once again they just tore through the woody barrage.

Meiling gritted her teeth and wondered what to do next.

"Windy duck!" she yelled as the hands flew towards her.

The Windy dived down as the hands sailed past overhead. They crashed into the domed ceiling, punching two immense holes into the rock.

Meiling's eyes widened as she realised what card she should use.

"Of course! Earth card! Destroy those hands! Release and dispel!"

A burst of green light struck the hands as they began shaking violently. The dark magic binding the stones together began to give way as Meiling cheered in victory.

"Alright!"

Heilang looked up and growled in fury as he saw his stone hands were being destroyed.

"CHANGE!" he commanded blasting the quaking hands with black magic.

The stone instantly exploded into flames as Meiling urged to the Windy to sail away. Fire consumed the hands before twisting together, changing into a new shape. Fiery wings spread out wide as a small narrow head formed, two white slits served as eyes as this new creature opened its tiny beak and gave a fierce cry of rage.

"A phoenix," Meiling whimpered, "Oh man."

The fiery bird dove at her as the Windy dodged, Meiling could feel intense heat sear her skin as it blew past.

"WATERY! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" she cried.

A gush of water struck the bird driving it back but the phoenix merely flapped its wings generating a gust of searing hot air that evaporated the water with shocking ease. It opened its fiery beak and blasted the Watery card with a jet of flames, the sprite screamed in pain as fire seared its watery body. Meiling hurriedly returned the card before retreating, watching the fiery avian warily.

Hidden by the Silence and the Illusion card, Tomoyo dashed around the room hurriedly as the black dog-beast Heilang had summoned continued to track her, barking ferociously as he caught her scent. Tomoyo frowned as she ran, what she needed was to cover up her scent.

But how?  
"Erase card," she whispered, "Erase my scent! Release and dispel!"

The spectral jester appeared in front of her as the Illusion card expanded to hide the spirit as well, the Erase swept his cloak over Tomoyo before disappearing again. The black beast immediately stopped and began sniffing the air slowly. A look of confusion came over its compacted face as its head moved slowly from side to side trying to track down the Angel.

Heilang growled in fury as he realised that his black beast was now useless.

"Argh!" he snarled in frustration as he pointed at the confused beast.

With a shout of fury, he destroyed the beast with a wave of his hands. Tomoyo smirked victoriously as she watched on.

But a cry of pain drew her attention. She glanced at Sakura and realised her friend needed help, bad.

The ancient demon Heilang had summoned had grabbed the Angel in chokehold, slamming her against the wall with vicious glee. Sakura swung her Star wand around weakly clobbering the monster in its bald disfigured head but doing nothing to weaken its hold on her.

Tomoyo swung her mirror around and fired. Heilang saw the beam seemingly emerge from thin air and instantly locked on her position.

The mirror's energy struck the demon's arm as it roared in pain dropping Sakura to the ground, weakly the Angel crawled to her knees clubbing the monster in the stomach before jumping up and punching it in the face. It stumbled backwards as Sakura raised her Star wand.

Heilang unleashed a burst of energy at Tomoyo. The Japanese Angel jumped away as the attack disintegrated another column.

Up in the air, Meiling gave a cry of surprise as a section of ceiling bereft of support began to collapse. An avalanche of debris smacked into her as she fell off the Windy card, plummeting through the air before hitting the ground painfully with a low moan. The phoenix immediately destroyed the Clow spirit with a blast of fire before whirling on the hapless Angel.

"NO!" Tomoyo summoned the Arrow card to her again and fired an arrow at the phoenix.

The silver arrow struck the phoenix's fiery body as it gave a shriek of pain. Sakura tried to unleash her own attack but was tackled away by the deformed demon. They hit the ground in a tangle of limbs, rolling away as Tomoyo attacked the phoenix again. This time the arrow embedded itself into the phoenix's eye, with a final desperate cry the bird exploded showering the room with flames. Sakura gasped in surprise as a spark of fire struck the demon as it raised its taloned hands to strike the final blow, it instantly went up in flames as Sakura raised the Star wand again.

"THUNDER CARD! RELEASE AND DISPEL!" she cried swinging the wand at the burning monster.

A bolt of lightning jumped from the tip of the wand to the demon, fire and lightning surged through the monster as it fell to its knees thrashing wildly. With a final cry, the demon exploded, burning chunks of flesh hitting the walls.

In the stunned silence that followed, Meiling crawled to her feet slowly as Tomoyo dissolved her Clow cards revealing herself. The three Angels hurried towards each other silently before whirling around as one facing off against the dark mage as Heilang smiled at them.

He began clapping.

"Very good, girls. Using my own monsters to destroy each other," he wiped away a fake tear, "Just perfect."

His eyes hardened.

"Try this on for size," he raised the tri-sword as energy pulsed along the blade, "Strike!"

The three Angels leapt away as a intense crackling stream of black energy burst forwards, Heilang merely tracked their movements slashing out with his sword as the stream of energy whipped around.

It struck Meiling first flinging her away before clipping Sakura, the Angel spinning around from the force of the attack. Tomoyo was the last to go, the energy crashing into her side as she tried to flip away.

Heilang laughed as all three Angels hit the ground with a gentle thump.

They lay there, deathly still.

"I shall look upon my enemy," Heilang whispered as the energy crackling along the tri-sword dissipated.

The air shivered with power.

"I shall look upon my enemy and my terrible gaze shall send them… TO THE DARK PLACE!"

His eyes flashed with light as the girls' bodies were struck by an invisible force flinging them against the wall. Heilang laughed as the Angels fell to the ground, their eyes snapping open simultaneously revealing glazed pupils.

"So mote it be."

And the earth began to die.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Nivaline jumped as the window shattered, rain instantly pelting in with vengeful force. Outside lightning crashed drown from the skies and even as she watched on in horror, one stray bolt struck a nearby building.

It instantly went up in flames, devouring red shooting up the building seemingly unaffected by the storm that raged around it.

Dark magic surged through the air as Nivaline grasped her chest in pain, the increased power thrumming around her making it hard for her to breath.

"Angels…" she managed to choke out.

The ex-Angel collapsed back into her bed as the fire raging outside leapt to the next row of buildings.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Nadeshiko gasped in horror.

"What happened?" she demanded.

Mini-Meiling frowned.

"The black wolf sent them to the bad place," the little girl said sadly.

"The bad place?"

"The place of shadows and darkness."

"How do we get them out?"

"We can't," Mini-Meiling sighed, "It is up to them."

Suddenly she began smiling.

"Umm… why are you smiling?" Nadeshiko asked worriedly.

"Because I'm going to help them."

"How?"

Mini-Meiling began glowing, Nadeshiko watched on in fascination as the girl began changing. The light faded away revealing a new figure, Nadeshiko backed away in shock as a mirror image of herself appeared before her.

"I'm going to talk to them," Nadeshiko's copy said calmly.

The face changed again into someone Nadeshiko had never seen before.

"Make them realise that they have to look within," the woman said calmly.

She changed back into Mini-Meiling.

"What's within?" Nadeshiko asked still unnerved from the sight of the little girl shape-shifting into her face.

"The power," Mini-Meiling grinned, "Sorry, Mommy Nadeshiko, I've got to go."

"What are you?" Nadeshiko whispered, "Are you god?"

"Nope," Mini-Meiling shook her head, "I'm just a little girl."

She gave the woman another cheeky grin before disappearing in a flash of white light. Nadeshiko stared at the spot where she had been staring.

"A little girl…" she repeated, "Who can shape-shift at will and teleport."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Right, I believe you."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling felt darkness and shadows assault her body, tearing through her like fire. She was lost, tumbling down a dark tunnel for what seemed like eternity.

Everything was so cold…

Where was she?

It was too cold…

Couldn't think…

Couldn't move…

Couldn't breath…

Meiling closed her eyes and gave in.

She gave up to the darkness.

Suddenly warmth spread through her body.

A soft voice whispered in her mind.

It sounded familiar…

Mini-Meiling…

_'You must not give up, older me. You must not give up or the black wolf wins. Look inside, the power lies within. The power to destroy the black wolf. You are the world's shiny hope, give up and the world goes with you. Look, older me. Find it.'_

Meiling frowned.

Power?

What power?

Then she felt it. Her mind brushed against something, something strong, ancient… primeval.

It was the pulse of the ocean as it battered the land with waves and tides.

It was the nurturing flame giving life and warmth.

It was the roaring inferno that destroyed everything in its path.

It was the spark of life in dormant seeds before it burst into life.

It was the movement of the lands as they grinded and shook.

It was the earth.

It was life.

The power surged through her, waking something deep within her that stirred and moved. She could felt her heart beating, beating in perfect synchronisation to the pulse of the earth.

Meiling tried to take it all in, tried to understand but it was beyond her. Something beyond her own mortal body.

Something…

Her eyes snapped open and she was back.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura was drowning in a sea of shadows. It flooded her lungs, choking her with vileness and hatred.

She tried to swim but her limbs were dragged down, grasped by syrupy fingers that refused to submit.

She was dragged down deeper and deeper, sinking into the darkness.

Her breathing slowed.

Her heart slowed.

Her mind slowed.

Everything was slowing down… shutting down.

Sakura closed her eyes and let herself go.

Let herself die.

_'No.'_

"Mom?" she whispered.

_'Listen… listen…you must try. Try to stop this. Find it in yourself. You are part of it as it is a part of you… and then and only then can you stop what is to come.'_

"Find what?"

_'The power.'_

Sakura gasped as power surged through her body. Her heart began to beat again, picking up speed with every passing second. But it was more than that… more than her… something beyond herself. Something…

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

That was the sound of rain beating down on the earth.

Her breathing quickened as well.

Shhh…

Shh…

Shh…

That was the sound of the wind whistling through the azure sky.

Tears fell down her cheeks but they were more than that.

They were the morning dew settling on green grass.

Sakura began to weep as she felt the power grow within her. The power of the skies: the roar of thunder, the cold death of ice and snow, the pure joy of sunlight… it was all there.

And it was all within her.

The shadows bled away as Sakura flung out her arms and let the power blaze from her body.

She had been human.

But now she was something more.

With a single breath, she breathed in all the powers of the majestic sky and she was alive again.

She opened her eyes and smiled.

Heilang was going down.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Tomoyo walked alone in a land of darkness. She had been walking forever yet she remained still, forever in the same place.

Forever in the shadows.

There was no sense of time.

No sense of direction.

She was lost, stumbling along, fumbling away in the dark. She tripped over something and stumbled awkwardly to her knees, she tried to get up but fatigue roared through her limbs. She fell forwards, hitting the ground hard.

She was so tired…

She wanted nothing more than to just close her eyes and give in.

Give in to sleep.

Give in to death.

'Tomoyo…' 

A gentle hand touched her cheek.

_'Tomoyo…'_

Tomoyo looked up.

"Mother?"

_'Tomoyo, when all is dark know that within you burns the eternal flame. This flame will guide you to the light and destroy the shadows once and for all.'_

"What flame?"

_'The flame of past, the present and the future. It is the fire that burns in all man's heart. The fire from which we are born and the fire in which we'll return to once we died. The eternal flame.'_

"I don't unde…"

_'Shh… don't speak. Close your eyes. Look. Feel. Find.'_

Tomoyo closed her eyes and did as her mother bid, searching within herself.

"There is nothing here," she said weakly, "Nothing… there is no fla…"

She gasped.

"Oh god. Oh god. Oh god."

In her mind's eyes a roaring inferno burned, the red flames leaping up into the sky and beyond.

But she knew it was not fire.

It was something more than that.

It was the hopes and desires that dreams weave.

It was death in all its majestic fury.

It was life, maternal and nurturing.

It was passion.

Hope.

Love.

Life.

It was life.

The eternal flame, that so easily gave and took.

Tomoyo Daidouji, wielder of the Clow mirror, holder of the third book, the book of Yue Gong Jian Shou, she who commanded the cards of the spirit and dream realm was now something even more.

She no longer commanded the spirits.

She was one with the spirits.

She saw life and death and knew that those were not absolute beginnings and ends but a cycle. All who entered the fire was reborn and made anew. And now she passed through this great fire, this burning symbols of life and death itself and in a blaze it destroyed who she once was.

And she was made whole.

Fire surged through her body destroying the shadow lands around. She stood up, tall, proud and strong.

Tomoyo opened her eyes.

She was alive.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Heilang gasped in shock as the three Angels stood up, power blazing from their bodies.

"How?" he gasped, "How did you… the shadow land…"

"I am the earth," Meiling said calmly, her voice strong and powerful.

"I am the sky," Sakura whispered.

"I am life and death," Tomoyo said dreamily.

They all looked at Heilang and their eyes seemed not to look at him but through him. Piercing through flesh and right into his corrupted soul.

"But you were supposed to be… trapped… forever," Heilang stumbled backwards as light continued to shine from the three Angels, "You were defeated."

"We are forever," the three said as one, "We are the light that chases the shadows. We are the hope that defeats despair. We are the solace in times of sorrow. We are everywhere, in the hearts of the people. You cannot hope to defeat us."

Meiling suddenly grinned at him, a vicious look coming into her eyes.

"And we are the ones that are going to kick you ass," she smirked, her voice reverting back to normal.

Heilang's eyes widened in shock.

"NO!" he pointed the tri-sword at them firing a blast of energy.

Sakura raised her hand.

"Shield," she whispered.

A bright wall of shimmering blue light burst into existence, the energy crashed into the barrier and fizzled out.

"How?" Heilang gasped.

"You underestimated us," Tomoyo smirked, "And now you're going to pay for that mistakes, interest and all."

"NO!" Heilang raged, "THIS CAN'T BE!"

He charged at the girls swinging the tri-sword around. The spectral outline of the Void card, superimposed over his body, shifted with his movements. Meiling raised her Clow sword.

"Sword card," she whispered.

The Clow sword glowed with power as Meiling stepped forward.

"CLANG!"

She easily parried Heilang's wide swing, sparks of dark energy flew as the Clow sword hammered into the crackling tri-sword blade. Heilang swung at her again but Meiling deflected the blow, trapping his blade before punching him in the face. She whirled around, kicking him in the chest before jumping forwards and slashing his arm.

The dark mage howled in pain as the blade ripped a bloody gash across his skin.

"NO!" he roared.

He pointed at Meiling and battered her with a blast of dark energy. The Asian Angel stumbled backwards.

Sakura raised her hand.

"Shield," she commanded.

This time instead of a wall of blue energy appearing, a metal shield appeared. It looked exactly the same as the one depicted in the card's picture, a gold and white shield shaped like an elegant wing with a glowing red ruby affixed in the centre. It flew to Meiling, fixing itself onto her arm as it glowed with pure white light.

Meiling raised the shield and deflected the dark energy away. Heilang roared with fury and swung the tri-sword at her.

Meiling brought her shield arm up and the blade swung in the metal, bouncing off as it struck its smooth surface.

Tomoyo raised her hand.

"Shadow. Dark."

A pool of black liquid appeared before Tomoyo's feet as a cloud of darkness formed over her head. As one the two cards surged forwards towards Heilang. The dark mage smirked as he saw the incoming attacks.

"You are a fool," he snarled, "Have you learned nothing from before? Those cards are rooted in the darkness like I am. I can control them with ease!"

He raised his free hand and pointed them at the cards.

"To me," he whispered trying to control them as he had done in the airport.

Tomoyo struck, she felt Heilang's magic surge through the two spirits as she flung her own magic outwards. Their two minds clashed as they both struggled to gain control of the two cards.

Heilang tried to withdraw but Tomoyo's mind snapped down on him like a steel trap trapping his magical self as the man struggled to break free. Meiling swung her sword at him as Heilang blocked her.

With his physical body forced to engage Meiling and his magical self locked in battle with Tomoyo, Heilang was hopelessly outnumbered and Sakura took full advantage of that.

She raised her hand.

"Light," she whispered.

Instantly streams of sunlight shot through the gaping holes in the shattered dome ceiling, they flew to her gathering in a ball of pure light in front of her. Sakura began exerting her will onto the light as Meiling and Tomoyo continued to fight Heilang.

The man tried to blast Meiling back with magic but Tomoyo held fast, she could feel his magical body struggling against her bonds but she refused to let go binding his magic down with her own as Meiling continued to hammer away at him.

Sakura continued to shape the ball of light.

Meiling kicked the man. A pained look coming over his face as a similar one emerged on the spectral Void card. He slashed at her but the shield came up, deflecting his blows. With a growl of fury, he tried to charge at Tomoyo trying to destroy the Angel so he could free his magic but Meiling was there, ready for him.

She kicked him again, swinging back with a wild left arc but Heilang was an accomplished swordsmen, he rolled away as Meiling's blade cut into the rough stone ground.

He slashed at her but the shield came up, blocking him again. With a howl of fury, he swung again but Meiling parried his blow ramming him in the stomach with the shield knocking the air from his lungs.

Sakura concentrated as the ball of light began to change. It narrowed, forming a long shaft as one end began to narrow into a point.

She had remembered how the Void card had been defeated before.

And now she was repeating history once more.

"Almost there," she whispered, forcing the light to change as she willed.

Slowly but steadily, the light responded.

It was almost done.

Tomoyo felt her grip began to loosen on Heilang's thrashing mind but she clamped down, exerting the full force of her will on his.

She refused to give way.

Heilang tried to force his way free but he was severely hampered unable to completely focus as Meiling continued to fight with him. With a growl of frustration, he struck at her but the shield blocked him.

Sakura's eyes snapped open.

It was done.

Floating before her was an arrow.

An arrow made of light.

"Meiling," she murmured.

The Asian Angel heard her even though Sakura's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Duck."

Tomoyo realised what her friend was doing and let go of Heilang's mind. It rushed back at him, slamming back into his body.

The force of the return sent Heilang staggering backwards as Meiling kicked him once more before jumping out of the way

With a growl of victory, Heilang raised the tri-sword and brought it down unleashing a terrifying wave of dark energy.

It rose to the roof, a tsunami of crackling darkness that threatened to engulf them all but even in the chaos the Angels stood firm.

Sakura glanced down at her arrow of light.

"Strike."

The dark wave came crashing down on them with deadly force.

It struck the Angels.

Heilang laughed and laughed and laughed.

He laughed even as the dark wave smashed into the ground.

It ripped through the rocks.

It pounded the Angels with dark energy.

It tore at the walls.

It burned.

And writhed.

And thrashed.

And destroyed.

And killed.

And the light arrow sliced right through the darkness.

He never saw the golden arrow shooting towards him.

Never realised what was happening until it was too late.

It slammed into his chest.

Golden light devoured Heilang as the Void card shrieked in pain.

The dark mage began to burn.

White fire devoured his skin as he screamed.

Screamed with pain.

Screamed with rage.

Screamed with fury.

He screamed and he screamed and he screamed…

Until it ended.

He fell to the ground as a flurry of darkened ashes.

The arrow faded away.

The dark energy dissipated.

And the Angels stood tall.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

All around the world, everything stopped.

The sea stopped.

The fires stopped.

The earth stopped.

The storms stopped.

Everything calmed down.

Everything went back to normal.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling blinked.

"We won."

Tomoyo was gaping at Heilang's ash remains.

"We won," she repeated faintly.

Sakura was beaming.

"WE WON!" Meiling cheered loudly.

"Not yet," Sakura said softly.

Everyone stared at her.

"Huh?"

"That," Sakura pointed at the Void card.

The spirit was floating in the air, her movements slow and tortured. Her eyes were glazed over with pain as a steady stream of blood flowed freely from a gaping wound in her chest.

"Oh god," Tomoyo whispered, "The curse."

"We've got to do this," Sakura said determinedly, "We've got to finish this… once and for all…"

Meiling nodded.

"No matter what it takes," Sakura finished.

The three Angels stared at each other.

"Let's do this," Tomoyo muttered, nodding decisively.

All three girls faced the injured Void card.

"Void card!" they called raising their talismans as one, "RETURN TO YOUR POWER CONFINED!"

Three beams of different coloured light struck the spirit. The Void raged and howled as pink, red and blue light encircled it trapping it in a sphere of rainbow colours. It began to shrink as a faint rectangular outline emerged around it.

The three girls concentrated pouring more power into the sealing. With a final roar of fury, the Void card disappeared.

The girls were forced to look away as a brilliant flash filled the air.

Once it had faded, the girls looked up.

A single card floated before them.

"It's done," Tomoyo murmured softly, a great sorrow entering her voice, "It is done."

The card began glowing with black light.

"The curse," Sakura whispered.

Meiling backed away slowly as the Void card continued to blaze with black light. Crackling energy burst forwards in an intense beam as the Angels braced themselves but it never struck.

Meiling felt something burst from her jacket.

It was glowing card.

The Asian Angel gasped as she realised it was the mysterious unnamed card her mini-self had given to her.

It flew forwards right at the incoming beam of dark energy.

The Angels watched in stunned silence as the glowing card struck the beam, the dark energy immediately splintered into crackling tendrils as the glowing white card pushed against it. The energy ricocheted off flying straight back towards the Void.

It struck the dark card with a bang.

The card was torn asunder.

The three Angels could only gape as the Void card was torn apart by its reflected attack. Five glowing lines zipped across the surface of the card as the energy reached critical mass and exploded with deadly force.

As the smoke cleared, the Void card came back into view.

It hung in the air for several more seconds before falling to the ground.

It hit the stone with a sharp peculiar sound, as if it was made of glass or crystal. The Angels stared wordlessly at the fallen card.

It had been shattered into five separate pieces.

The glowing card that had saved them from the curse flew back towards Meiling, the Asian Angel held up her hands as the card settled into them. She glanced down at its surface as the light dissipated.

"The Love card," she whispered, reading its name.

"So…" Tomoyo began slowly, "Do we still like each other."

Sakura shrugged.

"Yeah."

The three Angels stared at each other.

"We did it," Meiling whispered.

"Yeah…" Sakura said slowly, "We did."

"OH YEAH!" Tomoyo leapt forwards and grabbed her two friends into a massive hug, "WE DID IT!"

They began laughing and crying uncontrollably as they celebrated their victory. However they were cut off as the temple rumbling dangerously, a chunk of stone fell form the ceiling and struck the ground, shattering on impact.

"Let's do the victory dance after we get out of here?" Sakura suggested.

"Oh yeah."

The three girls ran out of the chamber as it began collapsing.

The five shattered shards of the Void card glowed with power as an avalanche of stones fell.

They soon disappeared under the rubble as the walls began collapsing.

The Void card had finally been defeated by the chosen three.

The prophecy was complete.

And in the Limbo, Mini-Meiling smiled sadly as Nadeshiko cheered beside her.

"Silly Mommy," the young girl whispered softly to herself, "It has only begun."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

The three Angels sailed out the entrance of the temple with almost no time to spare. The structure continued to collapse as they raced away eager to get away from the wreckage. Once the rumbling had finally stopped the three girls turned around and surveyed the damage.

"Nasty," Meiling whistled appreciatively.

"You have problems," Sakura muttered.

"ANGELS!"

The three girls whirled around.

"RUBY MOON!"  
"KERBEROS!"  
"YUE!"

The three guardians landed.

"What happened to Spinnel?"

"Oh, he vanished in a puff of black smoke awhile back," Kerberos grinned at them, "You did it!"

Yue frowned.

"How did you avoid the curse?"

Meiling held up the Love card.

"This."

"What is that?"

Ruby Moon smacked him.

"Oh, just shut up and enjoy the moment," she scolded, "YOU DID IT!"

"WE DID IT!" the girls cried back just as energetically.

From behind a clump of trees, Eriol smiled as he watched the girls celebrate. His eyes lingered for a few seconds on Tomoyo's face before he turned around and began walking off into the Laotian jungle.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**


	35. Epilogue

**Syaoran's Angels**

**Epilogue**

Kiyone grumbled as the three Angels settled themselves around her hospital bed.

"I can't believe I have to stay here."

"Oh chill," Sakura smirked, "How bad can it be… I mean you're not the one who had to trek through the jungle of death to fight against the forces of darkness so what're you complaining about?"

Kiyone rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, some people have been getting annoying ever since they saved the world," she muttered.

Nivaline laughed.

"How come you're out of bed?" Kiyone demanded.

The ex-Angel winked at her.

"Magic."

Kiyone glared at her as the three Angels smothered giggles.

"So what happened to the books and the talismans?" Nivaline asked noticing the lack of necklaces, bracelets and rings.

"Oh those?" Meiling said casually, "The guardians took them and the books as well when they returned back to the Limbo."

"Why?" Kiyone asked curiously.

Tomoyo shrugged.

"They're too dangerous to be kept here on earth. And with the Void gone, there's no point in keeping them around," Tomoyo shivered, "If they got in the wrong hands…"

Everyone paled.

"Oh well," Kiyone shrugged, "That's not going to happen now is it? So why worry?"

"Damn right," Sakura agreed.

Meiling laughed and glanced down at her watch.

"OH MAN!" she yelled beginning to panic.

"What?"

"I'm late! God, I'm going out with Marcus tonight! I've got to get ready!" Meiling grabbed her bag and darted out the door as everyone stared after her.

"She needs to chill," Kiyone said slowly.

"And I need a social life," Sakura groaned, "My plans for tonight include DVDs, pyjamas and some chocolate ice-cream."

"My plans as well," Tomoyo sighed, "I need a boyfriend."

They hung around for a few more minutes before leaving the hospital.

"See you tomorrow?" Sakura called.

"Yeah," Tomoyo nodded, "See ya!"

They both climbed into their cars and drove off as back in the hospital Nivaline and Kiyone continued to laugh about the girls' antics.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Meiling sighed in pleasure as she devoured the final traces of her chocolate desert.

"Chocolate," she sighed blissfully, "Is there anything if can't fix?"

"A stomach ache?" Marcus suggested playfully.

Meiling frowned.

"Maybe," she shrugged, "But I swear at times, it's better than sex."

Marcus raised an eyebrow at her as the Asian Angel flushed.

"I mean… not when I having sex with you… I enjoy that very much, because hello pleasure and… and…" Meiling turned red as she continued to babble, "Okay, I going to stop now. Okay? Okay…"

Marcus laughed as Meiling stared down at her plate in embarrassment.

"Meiling?" Marcus called softly.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

The man slowly got up and walked over to her side of the table, Meiling stared at him as he knelt down in front of her. As she watched, he pulled something out from his jacket pocket. Opening up the tiny velvet box he showed the ring inside to her.

"Will you marry me?"

Meiling stared at him.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Sakura growled in frustration as her doorbell rang. Pulling on a bathrobe, she hurried over to her door and pulled it open.

"What?" she growled.

She had just started watching 'Sleepless in Seattle', her all time favourite movie, and did not like the fact that her viewing had been rudely interrupted by whoever was at the door.

"Jeez, you look grumpy," Xiaolang teased.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock at the sight of seeing him standing at her door.

"Xiaolang?" she said slowly, "Aren't you… aren't you in hospital?"

"I got out," Xiaolang explained, "So ta-da! Here I am."

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked curiously.

Xiaolang smiled charmingly at her.

"I've got a question."

"And that is?"

He pulled a white rose out from behind his back and presented it to her.

"Ms. Kinomoto, would you go out on a date with me?"

Sakura gaped at him.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Tomoyo hummed as she brushed her wet hair. Popping a bag of popcorn into the microwave, she hit the on button and wandered off into her living room.

Suddenly the phone rang.

Tomoyo glanced at the clock.

Who would call her at this late hour?

Frowning in confusion, she picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

_'Tomoyo.'_

Tomoyo slowly sat down.

"Eriol," she said evenly.

_'I know you probably don't want to see me ever again… but I love you. And I think you know that,' _the man began slowly.

Tomoyo remained silent.

_'I don't know what's going to happen but I'm going to sort myself out. I'm going to get a job… a legitimate job and try to live straight…and then I'll return. But…but this takes time… and I'm wondering…' _Eriol trailed off, _'Will you wait for me?'_

Tomoyo froze.

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Across Los Angeles, from three separate mouths came the same word.

"Yes."

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

_Sun Moon Lake_

_Taiwan_

Four tablets were inlaid into the wall of the cave but only three was written on.

The fourth was blank.

Until now.

Blazing red light struck the surface of the fourth stone tablet as symbols began appearing on the smooth surface.

The writing was in an ancient form of mandarin but once deciphered, it read a simple message:

_An angel shall fall into darkness,_

_And when she arises,_

_Her ascension will herald the end._

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 

Within the misty realms of the Limbo, Mini-Meiling felt the prophecy appear on the stone tablet and smiled sadly.

"You think you've won. You think this is the end," she whispered gazing off into the distance, her mind focused on the three Angels as they celebrated a new chapter in their lives, "But for you? It's only just begun."

**THE END**

A/Notes: Hahahaha! Evil me, finishing on a cliff hanger but what can I say (shrugs)

Anyway, sorry this took way too long to get out but chapter 32 was supposed to be the last chapter but when I hit 90 pages I realised it was way too long and separate into two for easier reading.

Please, please, please review! More reviews may make me want to start writing the sequel earlier. I've suddenly become very unsure of the title I picked out earlier so that may change… I think.

Anyway, the dream sequences in chapter 33 (Full Circle Part 2) contains a lot of foreshadowing of what is to come… so if you want you can go back and try to decipher what is going to happen. Good luck! And oh, in case you're unsure the Void card was not changed into the Hope, the Love card actually managed to deflect the curse and use that to destroy the Void or rip it apart into five separate pieces.

Well, this story has take me two plus years to write up and it's been quite a ride. This is the very first multi-chaptered story, I have EVER finished so yay for me.

Before I go I want to thank the creators of both Cardcaptor Sakura and Charlie's Angels because without those as basis this humble little story would've never came about. I also want to thank the numerous T.V. shows, books and other stories I have drew ideas from (Buffy the Vampire Slayer gets a big mention!).

I want to thank those people who gave me the characters of Nivaline, Kiyone, Dan Williams and Diana Armstrong. Without them this story would've lacked a lot of thing.

And most of all I want to thank all the reviewers who have reviewed and hollered for me to continue… without your support I may have never written or complete this!

SO THANK YOU TO ALL MY READERS AND REVIEW!

And on a final note, you think this story was full of angst? Believe me when I say the sequel will be a lot darker (evil smirk).

Stay tuned and eventually Syaoran's Angels 2 will be posted… I hope.


End file.
